


The In Between

by Commandernanata



Category: Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ben Solo | Kylo Ren/reader - Freeform, Dom!Kylo, Dominant Kylo Ren, F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), Hux (Star Wars) - Freeform, Kylo Ren Angst, Kylo Ren Has Issues, Kylo Ren Needs a Hug, Kylo Ren Redemption, Kylo Ren and Rey Are Not Related, Love Triangle, Original Character - Freeform, Post-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Protective Kylo Ren, Smut, This is why Hux Hated Kylo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:28:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 38
Words: 146,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25650610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Commandernanata/pseuds/Commandernanata
Summary: Anya Harrow is a woman on the run. As a former Captain in the First Order, she fears her past will catch up with her. She not only fears her professional past, but also the repercussions that might come due to her past affair with Kylo Ren.The public wishes for surviving former leaders within The First Order be brought to justice, but this is proving to be more complicated than it seems.Meanwhile, Rey and the gang are adjusting to life post First Order. Rey has new revelations about The Force and what it takes to really restore balance.Balance is not restored and if she doesn't figure our how to bring Ben Solo back, evil could very well arise all over again, endangering old and new friends, and putting a future generation at risk. Rey ultimately finds herself meeting with and teaming up with Anya Harrow in order to truly bring back balance.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Courts

It had been nothing but arguments for what felt like hours. Once again it was going to be a hung jury. For some high ranking First Order officials it had been easy, the evidence was there, yet for others... it was proving to be more difficult. How could someone who was forced to work their position be held accountable for their crimes? Just because that person was a part of "the machine" did that make them guilty for the choices others made within that same "machine"? This was proving to be difficult.

Poe pinched the bridge of his noes as more and more evidence was brought out that this retired First Order Captain really had no part in the atrocities the First Order had committed, this man was simply someone stuck in a bad job. He was ultimately acquitted of all charges.

"I honestly could see this coming." Finn said.

"Really?" Poe asked.

"This whole situation is just proving to be more complicated than we ever could have anticipated. We would like to think things are just black and white, our side or their side. Yet as I've been doing investigating I'm quickly realizing that many of these people were like me... forced to do things they really didn't want to do." Finn said.

"I'm beginning to wonder if this whole task force of finding all these officials is worth our time..." Poe said.

***

Rey sat outside the new Galactic Court House located on Naboo... the Galaxy's new capital. She was scanning through the pages of yet another Jedi sacred text. She heard the familiar laughs of Poe, Finn, and Rose and she looked up to see them descending the court house stairs. Her friends... she was so grateful for them... yet at the same time she felt so alone. There had to be something that she could do... something to bring him back.

The force was out of balance. This she felt for a certain. With Ben Solo's death it left the scales off kilter. Just like the court cases against the First Order officials, realizing true balance within the force was proving to be difficult. The Sith were so extreme in one regard, and the Jedi were so extreme in the other regard. Rey had come to the conclusion that true balance was only found by accepting how the Force wanted to use you. It was clear... The light side of the Force flowed through Rey, sure she felt the darkness at times, but by accepting it was there she found that she could control it better than just denying herself. The same thing must have been true with Ben... no one ever allowed him to accept both sides of himself.

"They acquitted him." Finn said to Rey as he approached.

"I knew it." Rey said.

"On to the next official I guess..." Rose said.

"Yeah... about that. Some of these people are proving to be very difficult to find." Poe said.

"I don't blame them for wanting to hide." Rey said.

"Come on... if we start now we might be able to make it to the intelligence meeting in time." Finn said... Taking Rey's hand.


	2. Intelligence

Finn slept peacefully as Rey sat up in bed reading more of her jedi texts by the dim light of a softly burning candle in their room. Feelings were complicated. Part of Rey had loved Ben Solo, and still loves him... but it was a different kind of love... not like the love she had for Finn. For Ben she loved him as a brother, an extension of herself. For Finn she loved him as a romantic partner. The kiss that Rey and Ben had shared briefly had only been one of gratitude and deep friendly affection.

Rey put down the text briefly to watch Finn sleep. He had been so patient with her. So kind. So understanding. She didn't deserve him. He was doing well with his own training with The Force. They had plans together, Finn wanted to marry Rey... she knew that, but she was reluctant, she wasn't sure if that kind of permanence with someone was something she deserved. Rey put down the text blew out the candle, and cuddled up close to Finn.

***

"Alright. We have intelligence on a First Order Captain... and this one has proven to be quite interesting." Kydel Ko Connix said as she brought everyone's attention to the screen she stood in front of. It was yet another intelligence meeting to track town First Order officials.

"This is Captain Anya Harrow... approximately 28years old. She served as the commanding officer of the deep space station known as Oasis. Oasis is located in The Void, a region in the galaxy that is exceptionally remote.The Oasis station repaired First Order ships as well as offered refuge to travelers who otherwise might have not made it through The Void. Captain Harrow inexplicably retired from The First Order shortly before the destruction of Starkiller Base. She's been in hiding ever since." Connix said. Everyone looked up at the screen at the picture of a young and very beautiful woman with blond hair.

"The Oasis was always the butt of every joke in The First Order, it was often said that people were sent there to hide them. It was just a washed up mechanical maintenance shop in the middle of nowhere." Finn said.

"Normally I would suggest we disregard Captain Harrow.. but this is where it gets interesting. We interviewed stormtroopers that serves at Oasis and they all had the same things to say about Captain Harrow... that she was fair, kind, witty... and that she may or may not have had an affair with Kylo Ren." Connix said. The room went silent.

"...what!?" Someone in the room said.

"We interviewed several stormtroopers and they all shared the same story. Snoke banished Kylo Ren to the Oasis as some sort of punishment, and that in the time he was there it appeared that he and Captain Harrow grew very close to each other. One trooper said... and I quote: 'the station is small... it's hard not to notice what is going on with other people stationed there. It was quite obvious something was going on since Commander Ren was rarely... if ever... seen at his assigned quarters.. he was most often seen going to or from Captain Harrow's quarters.' End quote."

"So Kylo Ren had a past romantic affair.... if Palpatine could have children I don't think it's so far fetched that Kylo Ren was also capable of a liaison." Rey said, even though she had s slight sting in her stomach.

"What we find the most unusual is the timing of Captain Harrow's departure from The First Order. I don't believe her to be guilty of any galactic war crimes... but I do think making contact might be wise. She might have information on other officials." Connix said.

"Where do we find her?" Poe asked.

"Based on information we have gathered... we believe her to be hiding on Sorgan."

"Well let's go make contact." Rey said.


	3. Sorgan

It would be Rey, Poe, Finn, and Chewy that would be heading off to Sorgan on The Falcon. Rey had to admit she was a bit nervous, and slightly sleep deprived. What kind of woman would have had an affair with Kylo Ren... Ben Solo maybe... but as Kylo? Rey knew it wasn't Impossible, but to her it was unnerving.

"Hey." Finn said, coming up to her from behind and placing his hands on her shoulders as she sat in the cockpit.

"Hey." She responded back.

"Chewy and Poe are going to take the first shift of the flight, why don't you and I head to the back and see if we can catch up on some sleep?" He suggested.

"That sounds nice." She said getting up from her seat. Poe and Chewy entered the cockpit and took their seats. Finn and Rey stayed long enough for them to take off. It was decided they were going to take the trip nice and easy... no rush at all.

In one of the Falcon's private rooms, Finn and Rey lay on the small bed, Rey with her head on Finn's chest, and Finn twirling her hair.

"How are you feeling?" Finn asked.

"I feel fine. Just tired." She said.

"I didn't mean like that. I meant... about all this. I know you've told me that you didn't exactly have those kind of feelings for Ky... I mean, Ben; but I cant help but feel like you have a twinge of jealousy." He said.

"You're right, I didn't... and I don't. I mean I did, like I've told you before, in a way love him, but not like I love you. It's different."

"You know what Maz told me once?" Finn asked.

"What?"

"That there are some cultures in the Galaxy that believe that there are four types of love. Love for friends, Love for family, Love romantically, and Love based on goodness." Finn said.

"Interesting, that actually makes a lot of sense."

"So what kind of love do you think you have for Ben?" Finn asked.

"Love based on goodness. For you it's a combination of all four." She said with a smile.

"Good... I'm glad." He said before kissing her softly. With the kiss from Finn all her anxiety and worry melted away and she felt at peace.

***

"No star port, no industrial centers, barely a population, this sure does look like the ideal place for someone to hide out at." Poe said as the falcon came into view of Sorgan.

"For what it's worth it's a very beautiful planet." Rey noted as they began to enter the planet's atmosphere. It was a very picturesque planet with forests, lakes, and meadows. The group decided to land the falcon in a secluded area and then walk towards the nearest village.

"There are little villages like this that dot the planet all over. We might have to search all of them." Poe said.

"Sounds like we'll be here for a long while." Finn lamented. As it turned out, they were out of luck at the first village, and the second, as well as the third. Finally, at the fourth village, they hit a stroke of luck.

"Hey there! We are looking for someone we hope you can help!" Poe said, approaching a farmer and showing him a holo of the Captain.

"Oh.... yes... that's the lady by the lake... she lives in the villa adjacent to the lake, you'll have no luck getting near it, though, she keeps it heavily guarded. If you linger in town, however, one of her maids, an old woman named Moria comes into the village every afternoon." The farmer said. With that the group let the farmer continue to work his crops while they walked into the nearby village and stationed themselves near the mail entrance of the town.

"She keeps the villa guarded? Here on this planet? What could she possibly fear?" Finn asked.

"It means she might have information people other than us might want." Rey stated.

***

They had either missed the old woman, or she never came to the village. They spent the night camping in a nearby field, hoping the next day would be better. As the sun rose, Rey's eyes fluttered open. She felt safe and secure wrapped in Finn's arms under the sleeping sack they shared together. Careful not to wake Poe, Finn, and Chewy, Rey snuck away from the came and slipped back into the village.

Rey took up the post she had had the day before and began to anxiously await the arrival of some old woman. The hours ticked by, Finn brought Rey breakfast when the others arrived to join her.

Noon quickly arrived, and with it, an old woman slowly walked her way towards the village. Finn was the first to spot her. The group allowed the woman to make a few stops in the village before approaching her.

"Excuse me ma'am," Poe began, "are you Moira?"

"I am. Who is asking?"

"My name is Poe, these are my friends Rey, Finn, and Chewbacca. We are from The Resistance." Poe proudly said. Upon mentioning the resistance, the woman stopped in her tracks.

"I have nothing to talk to you about." She said before trying get away from them.

"Please... we are just looking for someone. We just want to talk. Do you know an Anya Harrow."

"I've never heard the name." She spat at them before pushing Finn aside, in doing so, she brushed up against Rey and her eyes caught Rey's lightsaber.

"You.... you... what are you!?" She loudly said, pointing to Rey. Sensing the woman's sudden terror at seeing the lightsaber, Rey reached out to her.

"My name is Rey... I am a Jedi. See..." Rey said, igniting her lightsaber and showing the woman it's yellow glow. Relief flowed over the woman's face.

"Are you really a Jedi? Are you for good?" She asked.

"We are for good." Finn said, also showing the woman his lightsaber and showing that he could levitate it.

"Well... you better come with me. Mistress Harrow needs you, whether she'll admit it or not." She said, motioning for them to follow her.

***

As they followed Moira to the lake side villa, Moira spoke highly of her "mistress" Anya, she called her. Moira explained that she knew next to nothing about Mistress Anya's life prior to settling on Sorgan. Moira knew three undeniable facts about Anya harrow. 1. She was incredibly wealthy. 2. She fiercely guarded her privacy and security. And 3. She appeared to come from a Military background.

"This villa was old, rundown, and abandoned when Mistress Anya came. She fixed it up and made it beautiful. It does; however; have the best security system on the planet. I've never seen anything like it." Moira said as they crested a hill and from the top they looked down to see a magnificently beautiful villa situated by the lake and surrounded by a high stone wall.

"Now this is where I must leave you. Stay right here and I will go talk to her, if she will have you, I will send someone out to fetch you. Do NOT descend this hill what so ever." Moira warned. The group agreed and made themselves comfortable on the side of the road.

Moira made her way to the Villa, the security system and the guards recognizing her as she made her approach. Mistress Anya was easy to find this time of day, she was either in the gardens surrounded by opulent flowers, or in the kitchen. Today she was in the kitchen. Moira explained to her employer about the visitors, Anya's heart fell to her stomach. She knew that eventually this day would come, and that she would have to face it.

"There's another thing... mainly... the main reason as to why I brought them here." Moira said, taking her Mistress' hand. Moira had love for Anya as if she where a daughter to her. She did not like to see the young woman so distressed.

"Two of them... two of them are Jedi. Miss... you need help... we need help." Moira said. Anya shook her head and agreed that it was time to allow insiders in. Anya watched from the kitchen window as a guard was dispatched to bring the visitors down. She closed her eyes and began to reminisce on some very old and very fond memories.


	4. The Oasis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *** This chapter is going to be a rather long one. I wanted to tell part of the story in a three part flash back ***

33ABY - One year before the destruction of Starkiller Base

The loud siren alerting all onboard The Oasis Mechanical Maintenance Station echoed throughout the halls. It had been a very long time since an alert like this one had rung out. This alert was to inform the crew that a ship belonging to a high ranking member of First Order Command was on it's way. High Command never came to The Oasis. The Oasis had the reputation of being a backwater slum, not really worthy much of The First Order's time. Yet here they were, a critical station floating in the middle of The Void, a wide, dangerous, and empty corner of space where many a ship have disappeared. The Oasis was the beacon in the middle of it, a safety point in the event anything with any ship went wrong.

"Ma'am, is this code correct?" One of Captain Harrow's lower ranking officer's questioned.

"It's as correct as can be. Ready hangar 4 and I want mechanics Dalton, Lohai, and Arma down there immediately! Do not tell them who is arriving, I will tell them." Captain Anya Harrow ordered. The officer stood to attention and then ran down the hall to make it to hangar 4, the best and most equipped hangar on the station. Anya composed herself for a moment. She had been Captain here at The Oasis for three years, and in those three years there had never been a visit from any of her superior. She simply would receive written messages to her once, maybe twice a month, no one really cared about The Oasis... that is until they needed it.

Captain Harrow straightened her figure forming black pencil dress uniform, one that was unique only to The Oasis, she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, and checked herself in the mirror of a nearby fresher. Good enough. She walked with authority down the halls to hangar 4 as her 3 best mechanics scrambled to ready the area for any possibility.

"Gentlemen..." She addressed her subordinates. Anya was a different kind of leader, something often noted by the people who transferred to The Oasis. She treated all of her subordinates with dignity, respect, but also firm authority. No one was scared of her, rather they had a healthy fear of her, a fear of letting her down.

"Ma'am." All three mechanics said in unison.

"The ship in question that is on it's way is the ship belonging to Commander Kylo Ren... the Commander Kylo Ren." She said. Immediately fear stuck all three of her mechanics. She didn't blame them. The Commander's reputation was well known throughout the galaxy and The First Order.

"I don't want you to be scared, or afraid. You are... in my opinion... the best mechanics in the entire First Order. Your job is to fix the Commander's ship, it's my job to manage the Commander. I can assure you that anything that happens will happen to me, not you. I just need you to focus on the task at hand. Do what you do best, and that is fix ships. Is that understood?" She said.

"Yes!" The three said in unison. Just then Kylo Ren's ship appeared, part of it was on fire and it was teetering back and forth. Anya could tell that The Commander was struggling to make a safe landing, but nonetheless he did. Anya could already tell there was extensive damage to the ship, it looked like it had been in some sort of shoot out. The cockpit of the ship opened and the Commander staggered out. Once he was out, three Oasis Stormtroopers rushed forward with hoses to extinguish the flames, and the mechanics began to scan the vessel for damage.

He was tall. So very... very tall. Clad entirely in black with that identifying helmet, the Kylo Ren took only a few large strides over to Anya.

"Who is in command of this station?" He said through the voice modified helmet.

"I am Captain Anya Harrow, I am in command of this station." Anya said firmly. He took a surprised step back.

"I am glad to see that our Commander has made it to our station unharmed, I can assure you my mechanics will have your ship repaired and restored to it's glory." Anya continued.

"Yes... I need to get into communication with The Supremacy." He responded.

"Please follow me. You can use my private offices." Anya said, turning on her heels, even in her black pointed high heels the man stood a good three heads taller than her, she felt like a child's doll next to him. Kylo followed her down through the halls oft the station. He did have to admit to himself he was rather surprised to see that the Captain of the station was so young, his age practically, and he even had to admit that she was rather beautiful. She had short icy blond hair, bright green eyes, and he found that the figure hugging dress was slightly distracting on her. He smirked under his helmet. It had been a very long time since he was able to indulge in more fleshly thoughts about a gorgeous woman, and it had been a very long time since he had even laid eyes on a beautiful woman.

"Here we are." She said, putting a code into a control panel and a door to her private offices sliding open. Anya's offices were unlike any other in the First Order. Any other office or private quarters Kylo had seen were all the same, sterile, uninviting, and industrial... like the machine that was The First Order. Captain Harrow's office was all white, with... instead of a cold and unfeeling metal desk, a soft wooden one, with a plush and inviting chair behind it. There were even fresh flowers in a vase off to one side, and a beverage cart with various alcohols and tea options.

"Everything you'll need is behind or inside my desk, feel free to do what you must, make yourself comfortable, the beverage cart is fully stocked. Can I get you anything?" She said. Kylo had already marched himself behind her desk and pulled the seat out, ready to make contact with The Supremacy, but the question caught him off guard. So innocent the question was, he wasn't used to people caring. For a brief moment he searched her feelings, she did not fear him like many others did. No. He could not tell if she was feeling any sort of way towards him at all. Instead he sensed an odd sense of what he could only describe as electricity coming from her. Her whole aura was inviting, calm, and balanced. She still stood there awaiting his reply to her answer when he felt a pang of hunger in his stomach.

"A meal would be sufficient." He said.

"Of course, I'll ring the room bell when I return." She said before departing and leaving him alone in her office. Kylo made contact with The Supremacy and with The Supreme Leader.

"So you've failed." Snoke said.

"The situation was complicated. They were more prepared than we anticipated." Kylo defended himself in regard to his failed mission to apprehend rebels.

"You went in with a dozen TIE fighters at your back and you couldn't qualm a simple rebellion of an inferior species? You alone are the sole survivor! A disgrace!" Snoke spat.

"The rebels had support we did not have intelligence on!"

"Pathetic! I am growing impatient with you! Maybe some time out on that pathetic excuse for a station will you do some good! Stay aboard that piece of junk in The Void until my mood changes with you!!!!!" Snoke said just before ending the call. Anger began to flood Kylo's veins, he went to ignite his Lightsaber and he was just about to smash the wooden desk to pieces when the bell from the door rang out. That was when he felt it... Captain Harrow's presence... calm...inviting... balanced. His anger readily subsided, he turned his saber off and walked over to the door and pressed the open button. Captain Harrow herself stood in the doorway with a tray of... cheeses... and crackers? The young Captain entered her offices.

"It will be a while before your meal is ready... I didn't know how hungry you were, so I brought these snacks." She said. Again she baffled him. People were usually afraid of him, cowering away from him, never wanting to do anything kind for him. What was wrong with her? She placed the tray on the desk and then turned towards the beverage cart.

"Can I get you something to drink? I know how to make several cocktails." She said. Again a pang of hunger hit his stomach and he was suddenly grateful for the appetizers.

"Do you know how to make a Chandrillian Elixer?" He asked before his brain could even catch up.

"Yes... that by chance... happens to be my favorite." She said with a smile. Her smile made him fell some sort of... way. Anya turned to the beverage cart and began to work on the cocktail. Behind her, his stomach growling, Kylo Ren removed his helmet to take a bight of a piece of cheese. Anya heard the helmet release and she head him place it on her desk. For some inexplicable reason, her heart fluttered and she broke out in a cold nervous sweat. She had no idea what he would or could possibly look like. She had no idea even how old he was. Was he old? Was he young? Was he a humanoid like she? As she mixed the drink in a shaker she struggled to compose herself. She would eventually need to turn around and see him, no matter what was to be revealed, she must stay cool.

For the first time since meeting her, Kylo sensed a change in her emotions when he removed his helmet, he sensed nervousness and unease, but he also sensed that she regained control of her emotions. Her back was entirely to him and unburdened of his helmet and it's viewfinder, he was able to gaze upon her unhindered and with his own eyes. She was petite, but had a very attractive figure. He followed the line of her body with his eye, her silhouette reminded him of one of those ancient sand dripping hour glasses with just how tiny her waist was.He was getting lost in mildly inappropriate thoughts before the clinks of ice cubes hitting glass brought him back to attention.

Taking a deep breath, Anya turned to face him.

He was young, her age, if not a year or two older; and he was handsome. This was the face of a man the whole Galaxy feared? His eyes locked with her's as she crossed the room with his drink out in front of her. She handed it to him and as he took it one of his gloved fingers touched the warm skin of her hand. Spark. Spark. There was a spark of some sort, and a shift, and both of them felt it.

"Are you not having one? I see you made enough for two." Kylo said.

"Oh... I made extra. I'm sorry. I assumed you had a bad day and would appreciate more than one drink." She softly said.

"Oh... well more can always be made." He said. Anya smiled once more and poured herself a glass, although she wouldn't drink most of it.

"Were communications with The Supremacy successful?" She asked.

"Yes. They were. The Supreme Leader actually has ordered me to stay aboard The Oasis for some time. With issues in this sector of the galaxy it is a wise decision." He fibbed, not wanting to admit he had been practically banished to this station.

"Oh! Well... I will have to arrange for some accommodations for you. Unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to ensure they'll be ready tonight. You may utilize my quarters until accommodations can be arranged." She said.

"No. That won't be necessary. I can make due somewhere else on the station." He said, noting the selflessness in her offer.

"With all due respect sir, The Oasis is a very small station, there really isn't much room. I insist that you use my private quarters this evening." She once again insisted.

"Where will you sleep?" He asked.

"My library has a very comfortable lounge... trust me... I've slept there before." She said with a chuckle.

"Very well then." He said. Just then Captain Harrow's communicator buzzed and she was notified she was needed in one of the hangars.

"Before I go, the bedroom is just through that door there, and the fresher is on the right, make yourself at home. A droid will be bringing your meal. You've no doubt have had an eventful day, you'll want to rest." She said as she turned to leave.

"Yes... Thank you... Captain." He said, not being able to recall the last time he had genuinely thanked someone.

***

Like her office, her room was as far from the typical industrialization that the First Order was known for. Everything was soft, plush... inviting. Even though she was far on the other side of the station, here in this room he felt the calmness that she brought. He sat down on the edge of her large bed and noted how soft and plush it was. He even bobbed up and down a few times to test its plushness. On shelves on the walls hung various holo-pictures. He was able to recognize her in many of them. A family portrait here. An award ceremony there. Pictures with friends. So this is what life was like for a female Captain? He suddenly felt like he shouldn't be looking at the photos, it felt entirely too intimate. Almost like he was invading her privacy.He settled down and removed his gloves, boots, and most of his attire, save his pants and undershirt. He had been banished to The Oasis without an extra pair of clothes. Shaking his head he ran his fingers through his hair and sat back down on the edge of the bed. It was just then that the bell for the bedroom door rang and a droid came in with his meal.... and extra clothes.

"Sir... Captain Harrow secured leisure clothes for you. Please give me your soiled garments and I will have them laundered." The droid mechanically said. The leisure clothes were typical all black First Order issued. He huffed at the fact that she had actually gotten his sizing right. "Lucky guess." He thought. The droid departed with his soiled clothes and he eagerly ate up his meal before finding his way to the fresher. He let the water shower over his head as he looked at all the foreign bottles that lined her shower. She must had had at least half a dozen different oils all for different parts of one's body. He sniffed a shampoo and briefly wondered if this was what she smelled like. He began to grow hard at the thought. He however shook the idea from his head and quickly finished up in the shower, allowing the icy cold air in the fresher to force any excitement away.

He dressed in the clothes provided for him and settled down at the edge of the bed, again noting how soft and comfortable it was. He pulled back the comforter of the bed, huffing at the fact that it wasn't a usual First Order issued comforter and sheets, clearly Captain Harrow made her own purchases for her private quarters. He slipped under the blanket and sheet and found himself quickly drifting off to sleep in the comfort of the bed.

***

He had a much needed solid night of sleep, he couldn't remember the last time he had slept that soundly. What woke him was a small light in the corner of the room that began to grow in brightness. It was one of those Sun Imitating lights, since they were in the void of space, the light was on a timer, set to grow brighter as a sun on a planet would. He rolled over in the bed, noting how silky the sheets felt against his skin, he then heard something on the other side of the door. Was it her? Did she need to get into her room? He got up and went to the door and looked through the little view finder that allowed him to look out into the office without being detected on the other side.

Captain Harrow stood in the middle of her office, holding a Coffee cup in one hand and a Datapad in the other, and she was fixated on whatever her datapad had to say. He clearly was catching her in the middle of her morning routine. She was almost fully dressed. Her hair was slightly damp, she was dressed in a white version of her dress uniform with the back zipper not entirely zipped up yet and she was walking around her office barefooted, her toenails painted a bright pink. As he watched her, he began to feel like he was engaging in an act of voyeurism. He reached down and slipped his hand into his pants to grab himself. He watched her down the rest of her coffee, place her datapad down on her desk and reach behind her to finish zipping up her dress. He then noted a droid enter the office and present her with what he instantly knew to be his freshly laundered clothes. He suddenly felt guilty, removed his hand from his pants, and stepped away from the door, going back to sit on the edge of the bed. It was then that he heard a faint tap at the bedroom door, faint enough that if he had still been asleep he wouldn't have heard it. He got up, a bit too eagerly he admitted to himself, and went back open to the door and hit the button for it to open.

The door slid open and he stood there, his hair slightly disheveled, and dressed only in the leisure shirt and pants that had been provided to him the night before. Anya sucked in a breath of air before speaking.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." She said.

"You didn't."

"I hope you slept well. I have your clothes here, fresh from the laundry. I can also arrange for you to take breakfast here, I usually join the crew in the mess hall." She said, handing over a neatly folded pile of black fabric.

"That would be fine." He said, taking the clothes from her, this time his now ungloved hand accidentally touched the back of hers. The same spark that had passed between them the night before when he accidentally touched her hand once again passed through them. More electrifying this time, causing the both of them to have the hairs on the back of their necks stand up.

"After breakfast I will be going to assess the progress on your ship. " She said to break the tension.

"Understood." He dumbly said. He didn't know what else to say other than to just stare at her. Here, with fresh eyes he couldn't help but note just exactly how beautiful she was. What was wrong with him? Captain Harrow gave him a faint smile and then took her leave.

***

Dressed fully in his usual attire, helmet and all, Kylo Ren marched through all the corridors of the station. Not sure even to himself what he was doing or what purpose he had. He just marched on. Practically terrifying all the crew and stormtroopers that he passed. He finally stationed himself at an observation deck that looked down into the hangar where his ship was being repaired. It looked awful, his ship. They had to remove the wings and much of the protective paneling. His ship had sustained damage before, but he had never seen it in this state. He noticed that Captain Harrow was down below overseeing some of the work being done and looking over materials and talking with the mechanics. She looked displeased. Anya happened to look up and see that he was standing at the observation deck looking down at the work being done. He watched as she dismissed herself from her mechanics and make her way to meet him on the observation deck. Within a few short moments she appeared on his level and walked towards him, her white heels clicking on the metal flooring.

"Good morning Commander." She said with a smile.

"Captain." He said.

"I hope you slept well." She said.

"As a matter of fact, I did." He said, grateful that he had his helmet on to conceal the redness that he felt grow on his cheeks at the mention of him sleeping in her bed.

"I have some news about your ship. I have good news and I have bad news. Which would you like first?"

"Start with the bad."

"My mechanics inspected the ship front to back, top to bottom, inside and out. The fire damage it sustained damaged most of the electrical systems and wiring. When taking off paneling it was discovered that crude repairs had been done previously... not at all up to code. Whoever the Mechanics are at Starkiller base need to have a refresher course when it comes to safety repairs. Dozens of old blaster damage had been haphazardly patched instead of panels replaced, or they were simply painted over. As I am sure you are aware, safety code dictates that paneling that has sustained blaster damage is to be fully replaced. I took pictures of the damage if you'd like to see." She said, extending to him her datapad. He took it from her and looked over the nearly two dozen pictures of shoddy repair work. He could have died. He could have died a dozen times over due to weak heat shield paneling or egregious weld patches.

"I can have my mechanics do a full overhaul and have the ship as good as new and fully up to code, or... I can have them bring it up to basic standard, safe enough for me to feel comfortable with you flying in." She said as he handed her her datapad back.

"For you to feel comfortable with?" He questioned.

"Ye...Yes..." She said, feeling a blush rise to her cheeks. "I take safety and wellbeing very seriously." She said. A few moments of awkward silence passed between them as they looked at each other dumbly before Kylo spoke up.

"I will be having a talk with the mechanics at Starkiller base when I return. Until then, if my ship could be brought up to code here... how long would that take?"

"A week... if not more unfortunately... I'm sorry." She said.

"No... Don't be sorry. Do what you must." He found himself saying softly.

"I do have good news now. Accommodations have been made for you, here are is the pass card to your private quarters here." She said, pulling out a small pass card from a concealed dress pocket and handing it to him. He noted how warm it felt in her hand having been so close to her body. He also couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed.

"Thank you... I don't think I've ever been showed this much hospitality." He admitted.

"Oh? Well here at The Oasis we aim to please." She said with a chuckle.

"Would it be possible for me to view some of the damage on my ship myself?" He asked.

"Certainly." She said, turning on her heel and motioning for him to follow her. He noted that her dress ever so slightly cupped her backside, and that the soles of her heels were the same shade as First Order red. She brought him down to the hangar floor and introduced him to her mechanics before giving him a tour of the damage herself. Her mechanics had begun to mark some of the shoddy repair work as part of their protocol to report the issues. Kylo didn't know his mechanics could be so negligent! Seeing all the crappy repairs caused anger to build up inside of him.

After the tour the damage to his ship. Captain Harrow offered him a tour of the entire station. He followed her through the halls and listened to every word she had to say. Hearing her speak and being near her was calming to him. He had never been around someone who made him feel that way.

"I was wondering... Sir... While you're here... If you wouldn't mind auditing us?" She asked.

"Auditing? Is that not a task for your superior?"

"In the time that I have been in command of The Oasis we have not been audited at all. You're the first person to out rank me to step aboard the station since my arrival here." She said bashfully.

"It seems like more than just mechanics at Starkiller base have been slacking on their jobs. I will look over the necessary things for you." He said.

"Thank you so much Sir... I really appreciate it." She said with her smile that made him melt a little inside. Anya then led Kylo towards the command station on the base. Inside were only two officers who looked to be nearing retirement very soon. The center was old and outdated with Imperial era equipment, it was past due for a full overhaul. Anya dismissed the two Officers so that they were alone in the command station.

"It's not much. But this is how she runs." She made a broad motion about the room as they entered. A large window looked out in to the nothingness that was The Void.

"This equipment has to be older than me."

"It's probably older than both our ages combined. That one radar unit dates back to the Clone Wars." She said pointing to the radar station.

"When I return to Starkiller base I will push forward measures to have the station overhauled."

"You don't have to. I am sure funds could be better allocated elsewhere." She was humble, he had to admit. He had long been surrounded by peers who faked humility. Not Captain Anya Harrow... she was genuinely humble. Anya went out to point out three faint stars in the distance and tell him about them.

"The Void isn't as barren as we once thought it was. By my estimations there are no less than twenty six habitable planets that are currently uninhabited." She stated.

"How do you know this?"

"I take statements from refugees who seek asylum here. Many hand over their ships data and their own tales, I've been able to confirm twenty six previously unknown planets from that."

"You offer asylum here?"

"Yes... it's always been the duty of The Oasis to offer to aid to ships in distress. We don't care what their allegiances are, we just render aid."

"You've offer aid to enemies?" He said, his tone harsh, she sensed this and a nervousness rose in her, he could sense it. He did not mean to make her feel uneasy.

"We've never had confirmed Resistance Fighters here, but we've had staunch opposers of The First Order seek refuge. With some care, compassion, and basic aid... usually they all leave here as new supporters of The First Order."

"Interesting..."

"Many are fleeing First Order occupied planets with dreams of life elsewhere. They only know 'Us' as a military machine. I make it my goal to humanize things just a little bit. I know it isn't the First Order way, but I've created more friends than enemies doing it this way."

"This is your station Captain Harrow, whatever you feel is best to further First Order interest is what should be done."

"Thank you sir." The two of them stood in calm silence looking out into The Void. Anya turned her head every so slightly to be able to inconspicuously look at Kylo Ren. He wasnt wearing the cape he had arrived in, instead he was just wearing his fitted black attire. She noted his strong broad shoulders, the slope of his back, and the solidness of his legs. She allowed herself to check out the Kylo Ren as if she were just a giddy school girl. She had to admit to herself that she was attracted to him, but she restrained herself from displaying any signs.

As Kylo looked out into The Void he took a moment to close his eyes and focus on Anya, what was she thinking? Using the force, he peered into her thoughts only to be surprised to find that she was thinking of him. He found that she was trying to be sly in checking him out. Knowing this information, he changed his stance and began to flex his muscles under his clothes to puff himself up. He smirked under his mask knowing that she was now having some thoughts about his ass. He had some thoughts of his own about her ass. By what divine fate brought him here to this tiny station in the galaxy? There had to be things at work, the Force maybe, that brought him here... to her. He knew this was no ploy or trick from Snoke. Nowhere on this station since he arrived had he sensed Snoke's overbearing dark presence. It was as if Snoke was truly abandoning him to this station in the middle of nowhere. If that meant he could have run of the place with a woman like Anya Harrow, that actually... dare he admit it... made him happy.

Anya showed Kylo to his new chambers, he was disappointed to see that it was plain and harsh... just like a typical First Order room, nothin like Anya's soft and inviting room. Anya presented Kylo with a datapad of his own so he could begin the audit work for The Oasis.

"Do you remember your way back to my rooms?" Anya asked.

"Yes." He responded. He had made a point to memorize just exactly how to get to her rooms from his.

"If you need anything at all, I'll be in my office." She said.

"What are the evening meal arrangements?" Kylo asked before she turned to leave.

"I usually take mine alone in my rooms, you're more than welcome to join me." She said.

"That would be nice."

"It's served at 1700 hours, and I keep it an informal affair." Anya said with a smile.

***

The biggest aspect of leadership that Kylo detested was paperwork. Yet here he was, pouring over the documents and records regarding the runnings and operations of The Oasis. All documents and reports dating back to with Captain Harrow assumed her position. It was incredible. He had never read such flawless reports before. It was typical to find hints of corruptions, mismanagement of finances, and report alterations when auditing a ship or a station. With The Oasis it ran near perfectly and came in significantly under budget for the past two years. How was she doing it? How was she managing to run it this smoothly? Why was she stationed out here? He needed her aboard his ship. He need her running Starkiller base. Kylo looked up at the time reader on the wall and realized he was going to be late for dinner.

Informal. She said informal. What does that mean? He took off one later of clothes, just the harsh outer long sleeved shirt he wore, and untucked his under t-shirt,he removed his gloves, and left the helmet in the room. Standing outside her door, he rang the bell. Almost immediately it slid open and she was on the other side, no longer in her uniform, but rather a loose fitting gunmetal grey collared dress with cap sleeves. He gave her an awkward smile. She was so beautiful.

He hadn't realized that her quarters were much larger than the office, library, and one fresher, there was also a formal sitting area which had been turned over into a dining room set for two and another full sized fresher. The table was set much differently from any other First Order dinner table he had ever seen. Everything in Anya's quarters was plush and had her unique feminine touch, yet the meal... it looked sparse.

"I'm sorry... it's the best we can do right now. Rehydrated reserve stew." She said with a twinge of disappointment in her voice.

"I'm sure it's just fine." He said, knowing fully well that the dehydrated meals that were rehydrated again usually always tasted a bit chalky.

"Our shipment of supplies is three weeks late, we've had to tap into our dehydrated stock." She stated as she sat down at her seat.

"Between the audit, and the outdated machinery, and now this, it would appear as if your superiors have all but forgotten about you." HE said.

"It would appear that way, yes." She said solemnly. The stew wasn't too bad, Anya showed Kylo how one could mask some of the chalky taste with extra cheese, which they had an abundance of.

"So... uhh... What is your home planet?" Kylo asked her after a few moments of silence.

"I... don't really have one. My parents were in the Imperial Navy, after the Empire fell they stayed aboard one of the remaining Star Destroyers that went into hiding, I was born in space. My father serves the First Order now as Lieutenant." She said.

"And your mother?" At this Anya paused and put down her spoon.

"She died... I was twelve, I also had a brother... he died as well." She said solemnly.

"I'm sorry." He said beginning to feel really stupid.

"No... it's alright, it's been many years. I've quite recovered. Now... odd question," she began in an attempt to change the subject, "Do Commander's get leave? You know... those two or three weeks a year from recreation?"

"Uhh.. in theory... yes. I've never taken it." He said.

"I always wondered what other people did for leave."

"What do you do?"

"I would like to go to Naboo, but as we've already discussed my superiors often forget about me, I have yet to have leave since starting this assignment." She said, taking back up her spoon.

"I was reviewing some of the financial records as I started the audit. I noticed that you bring The Oasis well under budget every year. How do you do it?" Kylo asked.

"Oh... Solar reserves. It's new technology, not widely used. When we are finished dinner I will take you to the reserve room." She said with a smile. The two quickly finished their meals and walked together down the halls and took a rickety old elevator ride down to the lower levels of the station.

"So, when refugees sometimes come for ship repairs, some offer to barter with us. About six months after I arrived, this merchant arrived with an awful fuel line leak, in return for fixing it, he paid us with three Solar Reserves. I thought maybe I could sell them to the next merchant that came along, but we get Solar storms at least once a month here at the station, blasts from distant stars make their way here. My mechanics outfitted the Solar Reserves to capture energy during the storms and we use that energy during sleeping hours. It saves us a ton of fuel and thus saving us big time on our annual budget." Anya said as she opened the door to a large room with these reactor looking machines softly humming in the background.

"That's amazing. Really ingenious. I've never seen this technology used within The First Order before." Kylo said, examining the first Reserve he saw.

"Well.... I didn't exactly get permission to install these. These are my little secret. I figured it would be easier to ask for forgiveness once someone from the higher ups saw how much money I was saving them." She said with a playful wink, her wink caused the corner of his mouth to twitch into a small smile.

"Well your secret is approved my me." He said. They began to walk back towards the elevator and stopped at a nearby window and stared out into The Void.

"You said there are some unexplored planets out there?" Kylo asked.

"Yes. Possibly twenty six."

"And they could be habitable? Like if someone found them they could possibly hide there undetected?"

"Possibly. Why?"

"I've been searching for a fugitive. The Last Jedi... Lu.."

"Luke Skywalker." Anya said, cutting him off.

"You know of him?"

"I've heard stories."

"He is in hiding, and it's my goal to find him." Kylo continued.

"Well... I have my own ship I keep here. You're more than welcome to go exploring." She said.

"I might just take you up on that."

***

Days turned into weeks, and the time spent banished on The Oasis wasn't entirely unbearable for Kylo. Kylo finished the audit for Captain Harrow by the end of his first week on the station. He found that the crew of The Oasis were pleasant company to keep. Unlike the crew on The Finalizer or on Starkiller base, they were competent, efficient, and kept to themselves and out of his way. He had no cause for complaint. As each day passed by he grew more and more fond of Captain Harrow's company. She was smart, levelheaded, made him feel respected and comfortable, and she didn't fear him. He had grown so used to people always fearing him, but not Anya, for some reason she had no fear of him at all. He was able to talk to her freely, she never over stepped the line when asking him questions, never pressed him about personal details, she was very much in tuned with what he was comfortable with and with what he was not comfortable with.

Anya made due on granting Kylo use of her personal ship to explore planets. It was a simple vessel, enough to carry two maybe three people. Using her detailed instructions, Kylo made his way to the first planet which she had named E1. E for East and 1 since it was the first planet in that direction. It was a water planet, the only life forms he was able to scan for were simple water dwelling creatures of little to no intelligence. Upon arriving back to The Station after his trip to E1 he was surprised to find that the crew aboard the station was running about in a panic.

"You there. What is going on!?" Kylo demanded of a Trooper.

"There's a hostile in hangar 5! Captain Harrow is there!." The trooper said before fussing off towards hangar 5. Kylo also immediately rushed in that direction. Almost every trooper aboard the station was in hangar 5 and for the first time since he arrived there, Kylo showed his colors as he pushed and barreled his way through them to make it toward the front, knocking troopers to the ground. All of the troopers had their weapons in hand, ready to defend the station. A wrecked heap of a ship was in the hangar, one Kylo did not recognize, and marching around as if he were a Reek ready to charge at Captain Harrow was a massive, ginormous, behemoth of an alien creature that had horns on his head, four arms, and hoofed feet. Anya Harrow just stood there, in front of the creature, standing straight, not cowering, not afraid, and boldly barking her terms at the creature.

"YOU WILL FIX MY SHIP! NOW!" It growled.

"I can have your ship fixed.... for a price!"

"I will not pay you murderous scum!" The creature bellowed. Anya and the creature went back and forth, and it was clear he was growing angrier by the second.

"Why are you not helping your Captain?" Kylo barked at one of the Lead troopers.

"Sir... Captain Harrow will give the signal if she needs assistance. She's usually good at deescalating these situations." The trooper said. Just then the creature smashed two mechanic carts sending tools and equipment flying across the hangar.

"You're ship is in perfect condition to make it to the nearest planet. I'm going to have to ask you to leave!" Anya said, raising her voice. Her face growing red with anger as the creature started to wreck her station.

"ENOUGH!!!!!" She screamed at the creature, stepping forward in her heeled shoes. The whole hangar grew silent, the shrill of her voice, the anger it held, it sent a shiver down Kylo's spine.

"YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE! I CAN DO BUSINESS WITH YOU OR I CAN HAVE YOU FORCEFULLY REMOVED FROM THIS STATION! YOUR CHOICE!" She yelled, stepping closer to the creature. In one swift fluid movement the creature lurched forward and grabbed Anya, one of his massive hands fitting right around her waist, and he roared straight into her face. Kylo stepped forward out of the crowd of troopers, his hand firmly clasped to his saber. The creature noticed this and raised Anya high into the air.

"SMALL GIRL GO SPLAT! FIX MY SHIP!" He bellowed, threatening to send Anya's petite body crashing into the metal floor. Kylo already had a game plan in his mind, he would use the force to freeze the creature, end the creature with the blade of his saber, and then safely lower Anya to the ground. He looked up at Anya and she was shaking her head "No... I have this". She signaled to him. Kylo tightened his grip on his saber, but also a small voice in his head told him to trust Anya.

"Hey... Listen.... We want to fix your ship, but you must pay. You will pay us. You will pay us what you can. Is that understood?"Anya said. Kylo then understood what she was doing. It hadn't been clear until now. That spark that he felt from her when they first met, the feeling of calm he felt when around her. It wasn't strong with her, but she had some use of the force, whether she understood it or not. The creatures eyes were locked with hers and she held his gaze.

"You will put me down.... gently. You will pay what you can. You will board your ship and remain there until repairs are complete." She calmly said without breaking her gaze from the creature. The creature slowly lowered Anya to the ground and allowed her to steady herself before he let go of his grasp. He then fuddled around in his garments and handed her a sack of Nova Crystals before he hobbled away and went back onto his ship. Anya turned smiled to the army of Troopers behind her, and to Kylo Ren who was standing there both awestruck and dumbfounded.

"It's a thruster issue, should take you less than an hour, get it done, get him gone." Anya ordered her mechanics who immediately ran to start working. Anya walked in the opposite direction of Kylo, away from him. He went to follow her, but she was walking quickly. Anya wanted to compose herself, her heart was beating out of her chest, she had broken out in a nervous sweat, and for the first time in a long time, she had feared for her life. She didn't really know if she actually had the situation under control. Kylo followed her, determined to catch up to her.

"Captain Harrow!" He called out. She made no response.

"Anya!" He said. It stopped her in her tracks.

"I just need a moment." She said, her back still turned to him. As he got closer, he could feel her anxiety, the fear that she had felt, how scared she had been for a moment. As he got closer, he reached up and removed his helmet so that he could look her directly in the face. He walked in front of her so that he could see her face. Her cheeks were red and her eyes were fighting back tears.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"I am fine. Thank you." She said bluntly and without feeling. Anya did not like to show weakness. She valued and took pride in the reputation of being calm, cool, poised, and collected. She never wanted anyone to see her moments of weakness, she especially did not want The Commander to see her near tears. He realized he had to let her go, she went to walk past him, but in a quick moment, he took her hand. They stood there for a moment, neither of them saying anything or looking at each other, but the feeling was undeniable. There was, and had been since the moment they met, and powerful attraction to each other, and with each passing day it was getting harder and harder to ignore.

Author's Note:

Thank you so much for reaching the end of this chapter. I know it was a long one, but I am trying to tell this part of the story in a 3 part flashback. The next chapter's title is going to be titled: The Affair. And lets just say I have big plans for that chapter in terms of some NSFW.... fun ;).

I am more of a story teller as you can see, so I hope there are readers out there who enjoy this type of story telling, I do enjoy more fluff and softness... but don't worry... there will deff be some not so soft parts in the very near future.


	5. The Affair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: NSFW

After the incident in the hangar, Anya sent a note to Kylo that she wasn't feeling well and would dine alone in her room. She was extremely apologetic, going on in her note that it was nothing he did, but that she just had had a stressful day. He understood and took dinner alone in his room that night. After dinner he laid in bed staring up at the blank ceiling, sleep evading him. Far, on the other side of the station, Anya too lay awake, her mind wandering, her thoughts lingering on that moment in the hall when he took her hand. What did it mean? Did he feel for her? Was she just being a foolish girl? She didn't know. What she did know what that she was hopelessly attracted to Kylo Ren.She had caught herself on more than one occasion during recent weeks dwelling on inappropriate thoughts and fantasies. She usually quickly shook them from her mind, telling herself over and over again that her attraction was most likely due to the fact that it had been years since she spent any time with a man her age; it had also been years since she was last kissed. Anya rolled over in her bed and covered her head with a pillow, willing herself to sleep.

***

Kylo managed to find sleep the old tried and true way: by thinking of all the ways he wanted to fuck Captain Anya Harrow. After reaching a sweet release by his own hand, Kylo fell into a deep slumber. He rose from his sleep naturally at a slightly later hour than he intended to the following morning. His first thought of the day was of her. Before his feet hit the floor he had devised a plan for himself. Was it entirely ethical? No. Would it get him 100% alone with her for a long period of time? Yes. He intended to visit one of the unexplored planets that afternoon, and he was going to make an official order for Captain Harrow to accompany him. He remembered that she said it had been a very long time since she had been off the station, so he was using that bit of knowledge to his advantage.

After showering, dressing, and eating; Kylo made his way out into the main hall to seek out Anya. A station engineer informed him that she was in one of the hangars where a ship had come in early in the morning. From the doorway to the hangar he expected to see Anya looking over the work of the ship herself or talking with the ship's owner. Instead he saw her sitting comfortably in a chair not too far from where the work was being done, her legs crossed, and in her arms.... an infant. Next to her, on the ground sat an older child, a little boy, maybe two maybe three years old, playing with a few primitive toys.

He watched in the distance as Anya crooned over the infant in her arms and played with the child at her feet. Kylo began to walk towards her when one of the little boy's toys rolled his way, hitting Kylo's foot. The little boy caught sight of Kylo, who was dressed all in black with his helmet on, and immediately burst into tears. The smile on Anya's face fell as she looked over, when she saw it was Kylo she gave a half smile and began speaking to the little boy in a language Kylo couldn't quite make out. Whatever she said to him calmed the boy.

Kylo crouched down and picked up the toy, a small ball, and using the force, he floated it back towards the little boy. The little boy took it in his hands and looked at Kylo in awe and then looked at Anya. Again, Anya spoke in a different tongue, the boy stood up and gathered his toys together and hobbled over to a man speaking to the mechanics who was obviously the child's father.

"Good morning." Anya said, standing up, still with the infant in her arms.

"Good morning." He replied back.

"This little one was born only a few hours ago on their ship, her mother needed some medical attention, so they hailed us for aid." Anya said, looking down at the infant.

"Is everything alright with the mother?" Kylo asked.

"Yes, all will be well. She is being tended to, and we are addressing some minor thruster issues for their ship."

"I was intending on going out today to explore another planet." Kylo said to her, her eyes still all over the infant.

"Oh... I'l have your ship refueled and ready for whenever. There is, however, a solar storm heading our way this evening. We'll have to lock down the station until it passes." Anya said.

"Well... I wanted to know if you wanted to accompany me to view the planet. I recall you haven't been off the station in quite some time, and as your superior it would only be fair to extend you the opportunity." Her eyes shot from the infant to the viewfinder of his helmet.

"Really?! Oh... I would love... I mean... That would be an honor. I'm glad to go." Anya said, trying to compose herself. She hadn't been off this station since the day she arrived. Not only was she happy to jump at the opportunity to leave for a few hours, but she found her heart fluttering at the thought of going with him.

"What of the solar storm? How long until that arrives? How long do we have?" Kylo asked.

"We guess it will arrive at 2100 hours tonight. The protocol for solar storms is that all personnel are to remain in their quarters until it passes. In fact, our safety systems lock all the rooms, it's a protection from the radiation. So we would need to be back at the station and back in our rooms before things lock up for the storm." Anya said, just as a nurse from medical was wheeling a woman in a wheel chair back into the hangar. Anya smiled at the woman and handed the baby back over to her before the nurse wheeled her away.

"That should give us plenty of time to go to the nearest planet." Kylo said.

"We can take my ship." Anya said, together they both started walking out of the hangar.

***

Anya left command of the station to one of her lower officers, changed into a more suitable uniform for exploring an alien planet and went to her hangar where she kept her ship. She wore well fitting black pants, a fitted long sleeve and turtle necked shirt tucked into the pants, a structured jacket, and flat boots. Kylo was already in the hangar looking over her ship when she arrived. He had hardly seen her without her usual heeled shoes on, she looked much shorter in flat shoes. He also noted how she had braided her hair into a crown on her head, a practical style, one meant to keep it out of her face and out of the way, yet, also one his mother had worn in the past.

Anya's ship was a newer luxury model. It was built for travel, not war, and judging how pristine it looked, it had barely ever been flown. Anya gave Kylo the command of the ship, he would pilot it. After getting clearance, they took off into the literal unknown. After a few moments of flight, Kylo sat back in his seat and removed his helmet, fully aware of Anya's eyes on him as he did so. When he looked over to her, she looked away, pretending to not notice. She slouched back into her seat and let out an audible sigh of relief, relief at being away from the station for the first time in years.

"When I return to Starkiller Base, I am going to ensure that no one forgets about you or The Oasis ever again." Kylo said, breaking the silence.

"That really isn't necessary." Anya said, turning to face him. Again... she was being humble.

"No it is. You are doing incredible work. You are running that station better than I've seen seasoned generals run their entire fleets. It's unacceptable that you've been just shoved aside and forgotten about." He said.

"I'm sure my superiors have more pressing matters. We are just a little station in the middle of nowhere, of little importance." She said, a blush coming to her cheeks.

"Well your superiors need to learn from you. We need more leaders like you amongst our ranks." Kylo said, just as the ship came out of hyperspace and a small but lush green planet appeared before them. Kylo watched at Anya's eyes grew wide in wonder and awe. "When was the last time she saw a planet?" He thought to himself. They entered the planet's atmosphere and took readings about the planets air quality from inside the ship. Once things came back as safe, they began to scan for life forms. There seemed to be no intelligent life forms, but the planet was abundant in animal creatures. Finding a safe spot to land, Kylo lowered the ship and landed it with ease. It was rare that he flew with a co-pilot, and by rare... never... he never flew with a co-pilot. Flying with Anya was different, she knew what his next action was going to be before he even told her, it was like she could read his mind, and anticipate his next move.

"Ready?" He asked as he powered down the ship.

"Ready." She said with a smile. The hatch of the ship opened and fresh, temperate air flooded the cabin. When Anya rose from her seat, her legs swayed and she had to brace herself on the chair.

"Are you ok?" Kylo asked her.

"Yes... Just not used to natural gravity." She said with a chuckle as she began to get her bearings. Kylo went down the ramp of the ship first to survey the area, Anya was still needing to balance herself on the walls of the ship as she got used to the natural gravitational pull, a common side effect of too much time in space. Kylo looked up the ramp as Anya made her way down, he extended her hand to her and she reached for it, using his stability to stabilize herself on the last few steps down the ramp.

"Thank you." She said, letting go of his hand.

"When I come to these planets I gather soil and plant samples to gather information. The samples can be studied in the labs on Starkiller base when I return." Kylo said.

"This planet seems very rich in possible resources." Anya said, noting how temperate the climate was and how lush and green everything was.

"I agree. We might find something good here today." He said with a small smirk. Kylo Ren didn't smile much, but when he did it was usually only to Anya, and she cherished each time. The two walked though the greenery, noting different insects and plants. Anya took it upon herself to gather cuttings of different plants she saw, while Kylo scanned for more life forms and took pictures of things they saw. They chatted with each other as they worked, Anya pointing out her observations and Kylo pointing out his. Kylo had to admit, this was nice. Anya was overall a very pleasant and lovely person for him to be around. In the past there had been other women he's dealt with or had to deal with, all headstrong, difficult, and stubborn. Not Anya, Anya was the type of person who took no shit, but also gave no shit. She was easy going, yet decisive, and she was independent, yet submissive. In the few weeks now Kylo had been on the station, he never saw Anya lose her temper, bark orders cruelly, or harshly at any of her subordinates. The only rise in anger he saw in her was with that creature incident in the hangar. That made him think of the hangar incident, how she was able to easily calm the beast with... of all things... The Force.

"The incident the other day. You handled that situation very well." Kylo said, his back turned to her as he took photos of a unique flower.

"Oh... thank you. I actually was very nervous." She replied.

"Well I couldn't tell. Where did you learn that negotiating technique?" He asked.

"What negotiating technique?" She asked, turning to face him.

"You managed to... mystify... that creature somehow. How'd you do it?" He turned to her.

"I.... I don't know. I just focus on my breathing and try and move my mind to connect in some sort of way to whomever I'm dealing with. I know that sounds silly. My mother used to be quite skilled at it." She said.

"Your mother?"

"Yes. When my parents had leave from their duties, we would go to random planets and my mother would say she was using her 'mind trick' to trick merchants in the markets to give her better deals on goods. I caught on from her."

"Mind trick? You know we have a name for that." He said with a smirk on his face, turning back to taking pictures.

"You've heard of other people doing it? I mean, you can use The Force, so other tricks people can do I'm sure aren't so far fetched."

"We are all connected to The Force. It moves everywhere around us, some are just more gifted with it than others. I come from a line of strong force users. My mother has it, and so did my grandfather before me." Kylo flatly said.

"I see. So the mind trick... it could be related to The Force?"

"Yes. It was called a Jedi Mind Trick. Jedi's used to use it on the weak minded." Kylo said.

"Huh... interesting. So I use The Force with that?"

"Yes. You do; and you're remarkably good at it too."

"Does that mean I can....?"

"No, like I said, it flows all around us and for some it flows more freely and can be controlled. You have just a touch of it... which is still a good thing." He cut her off knowing she was going to ask if she could use it like he did.

"Oh... so my mother probably was like me. Just a touch of it."

"Most likely. You said you had a brother, could he do it too?"

"I don't know. He was a baby when they both died. They died together." Anya softly said.

"I'm sorry." He said. For a moment Anya didn't reply, and Kylo began to mentally kick himself for souring the mood.

"She.... she killed herself and my brother. He was just a baby. My father said it sometimes happens to women... that something happens in their mind and they get really, really sick. She was having.... dreams.... dreams that something dark and evil was coming for my brother, and that whatever it was was going to take my brother away forever. She truly believed it too, and she only saw one way out. I was twelve and already sent away to school when it happened."

"Oh... Anya..." Kylo began.

"I've... I've never told anyone that before. Very few people know what happened." She said, blinking away tears and embarrassment. He went to reach out to her but she turned away and walked through the greenery into a clearing that opened up to a large pond. He balled his fists and called himself stupid under his breath before walking after her. When he reached her she had already removed her boots and rolled up her pants and waded ankle deep into the water to gather water samples. He wanted to say something, but the words escaped him, instead he just watched her gather samples and splash her toes around in the water. The last time Anya had been in a natural body of water was when she was a teenager, as she walked she tried to imprint the feeling of the water and sand between her toes into her mind. She reached down into the water and picked up a sparkling white shell.

"Hey." She said, getting Kylo's attention before tossing it to him. He caught it and looked it over before adding it to their collection of samples they were gathering. Anya's eyes turned back to the water and something glimmered beneath the surface, partially covered by sand. Anya reached down and pulled it out, revealing a large crystal.

"Is this Kyber?" She asked, holding up the large crystal to the light.

"Toss it over here." Kylo said, Anya tossed it and he looked it over in his hand, it indeed was Kyber Crystal. A good sign that this planet might be rich with the resource.

"It is!" He said with excitement, just as his life form scanner started to ping aggressively. Something was coming, and by the alarms that went off on the scanner, it was large. The pond rippled with water, and before either of them could reach, a large purple and pink tentacle burst from the surface of the water and wrapped right around Anya's ankle, dragging her into the water.

Kylo dropped everything he was carrying, and with the flick of his wrist he froze the creature's tentacle with the force, Anya was now neck deep in water, her head just above the surface, frozen from being dragged under. Anya struggled, but the grip from the creature was too much. Kylo ignited his saber and slashed into the water, slicing the tentacle, it immediately losing it's grip on Anya's ankle. Anya grabbed Kylo's outstretched arm and he pulled her towards shallower water. Whatever was under the surface of the water was now angry. The water began to bubble and gurgle, and three more tentacles burst forth. Anya and Kylo dove onto dry land and quickly began to gather their things while the tentacles blindly darted here and there looking for them.

One tentacle got close, and Anya revealed a blaster that she had on her person, and shot at it. The blast struck the creature, and from the abyss there was a hiss, and water burst forth revealing more tentacles and the body of a hideous, slimy, multi-eyed creature with a beak. It screeched into the air and locked all of it's eyes onto Kylo and Anya.

"Run." Kylo said, igniting his saber once more. Anya didn't have to be told to run, she just grabbed what she could carry on her person and began to push her way through the greenery. Kylo too ran, turning back to slash the creature as it advanced on them. Surely it wouldn't be able to stay out of water for very long, but it did. Screeching at them and lunging at them with it's tentacles. Anya turned and fired on the beast with her blaster, taking out two of it's eyes, sending purple blood splattering through the forest. It fought back, sending one of it's tentacles out in a sudden burst, wrapping it around Kylo's leg and yanking him toward's it's open beaked mouth, the sudden motion causing him to lose grip of his lightsaber. Using the force again, Kylo froze the creature, it was using a lot of energy to keep such a large beast frozen. Anya ran forward and with her blaster began shooting at the same spot over and over and over again on the tentacle that held Kylo. Blasting her way through the thick mass until he was free. She then turned and began firing into the creature's open mouth, blasting a hole through it's skull, killing it. Kylo released his grip on the creature and laid down in the grass to catch his breath. After a few deep breaths, he sat up to see Anya too taking deep breaths while leaning against a nearby tree.

They both were soaked, and now they were splattered with the purple blood of the creature, some of the blood sticking to Anya's blond hair. She had saved his life. She was fearless and quick thinking, and replaying the scene of her running forward with her blaster towards the open mouth of the creature, quite frankly, turned him on. Kylo stood up and took thee large strides toward her. Anya stood up straight and her heart knew exactly what was about to happen as he aggressively approached her. Scooping one hand behind her neck and the other at the small of her back, Kylo brought her to him and brought his mouth to hers. Kissing her with such a passion it made her dizzy. Anya reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck and melted into the kiss, kissing him back like he was the cure to an affliction she had long suffered.

Coming down off their adrenaline high, they feverishly devoured at each other's mouths until they were breathless. Kylo's hands moving to her hips and pressing her firmly to the tree, his fingertips digging deep into her skin through the fabric of her clothes. They broke away from each there, keeping their foreheads pressed together, it was then that they heard another loud screech come from the direction of the pond.

"Let's get out of here." Kylo said, taking Anya's hand and running back to the ship. Back on the ship, they took off just as another tentacled creature burst through the greenery. All things calmed down as they made their way back to the station. As Anya's heart rate slowed, she looked down to realize she was sitting on the ship barefoot, her feet splattered with purple blood and a bruise forming where one of the suction cups of the tentacle hit her bare skin. She also felt the heat of embarrassment rising in her chest at the recollection of her encounter with Kylo Ren. She began to feel guilty. As the ship entered hyperspace, Kylo reached out to take Anya's hand but she shifted away.

"I'm... I'm sorry. That was inappropriate of me." She said, the heat of embarrassment fully flushing her cheeks. She got up from her seat in the co-pilot's chair and retreated to the ship's 'fresher. Inside she looked herself over in the mirror, her lips visibly red and swollen from the passion with which Kylo had kissed her, and her makeup smeared around her eyes. Turning the water on, Anya washed her face clean, hoping maybe to wash away the redness and swelling in her lips. Why did she feel guilty? Was that not something she had fantasized about? Was it not something she had wished for? She didn't know, but now that she had done it, she both felt guilty, but also wanted more.

Kylo set the ship on autopilot and went to the back of the ship to quietly wait outside the 'fresher door. He could hear the water running, and using the force he tried to peer into Anya's thoughts. She was accusing herself of inappropriate conduct with a superior. She both was chastising herself but at the same time wanting more of what happened. He didn't want her to feel guilty. She held herself to such high standards. He tapped on the door.

"Anya... it was my fault. Please don't feel bad." He said though the door. The 'fresher door slid open and she stood there, her face freshly washed.

"I... I don't think I can do that again." She softly spoke.

"That's... that's ok. Whatever you want." He said a bit disappointed.

"I don't know what I want." She began, "Part of me feels like what that was was wrong, and the other part of me..." She trailed off, hesitating to dare say that she liked it. He knew she liked it, and he already knew she wanted more. He stepped forward, closing the space between them.

"I don't see what's wrong with it." He softly said, looking intently into her eyes.

"You're my superior, it wouldn't look right. I'm just the captain of a little old station in the sky. I would be accused of trying to gain favor, or rise above my station."

"I wouldn't let anyone have anything to say about it. Plus... how would anyone know? We could keep it a secret."

"We would be living a lie. Plus... you could be called back to Starkiller Base at any moment. What happens to it all then?"

"Would we? We go about our days as normal, seeing each other just as we do now, no one needs to know where I go at night; and if the Supreme Leader were to call me back, I still have my own independence to come and go as I please. I am the Commander after all. All I have to say is that I'm searching for Luke Skywalker on one of the uninhabited planets, and I'll be free to come to you whenever." He could see in her eyes that she was beginning to see things his way. It was risky. He had no idea what could possibly happen if Snoke were to find out about her. Would he consider her a weakness, or would he consider her an asset? As far as Kylo was concerned at that very moment, Anya was what was driving a flame of passion inside of him; and the dark side was fueled by passion. Beeping broke the tension between them as the ship's autopilot indicated they were nearing the station. Without saying another word, Anya and Kylo took their seats again back up in the cockpit to make their landing. A small welcoming committee had gathered in the hangar as they exited the ship.

"Welcome Back." The officer whom Anya left in charge said. Everyone looked a bit shocked at Kylo and Anya's disheveled appearance, both of them still damp and splattered in purple goo.

"I take it a discovery was found on planet W-5?" The officer asked.

"Yes.... Kyber Crystals and large tentacled creatures." Anya said with a chuckle as she made her way over to the officer. She motioned for the officer to follow her and debrief her on things that she missed while she was gone, leaving Kylo alone in the hangar.

***

An announcement echoed over the speakers of the station informing all personnel to be in their rooms within the next ten minutes, the solar storm was coming and it was going to be a big one. Kylo had showered and changed into lounge clothes. When he had arrived back to his room a trooper brought him a bag of supplies, the trooper explained that they were enough to keep one fed and entertained for two days... the estimated time the solar storm was going to last. Great... locked alone in that room for two days. Not the most ideal. Unless.... The devilish thought popped into his head. What if he got locked in someone else's rooms? He shook the thought from his mind... but then again...

Without thinking a second time, he grabbed the bag that was given to him and pushed open the doors to his room. The halls were empty as he made his way to Anya's rooms. He stared at her door for a good minute trying to decide if he dare go though with this. Inside, Anya was standing in her office looking over the day's reports on her datapad, wearing just a simple gray lounge dress, her hair loose and still slightly damp from her earlier shower. She had gotten back to her room and poured herself a very stiff drink and downed it in one chug before starting on a second. She was now on her third, and her legs felt like jello, the usual first sign that she was tipsy. It was then that she heard a rustling outside her door. Anya walked forward to her door and pressed the button to open, outside stood Kylo Ren, just in his lounge clothes, and his two day supply bag. Doors were going to lock any minute. She didn't even think, she just reached out and grabbed his shirt and pulled him into her room and hit the door button.

His body slammed against her petite frame, and he dropped the bag on the floor, moved his hands to her hips and pushed her towards her desk, pressing her backside against the ledge of the desk. Anya reached up and balled his hair in her fists and pulled his head down so his mouth could meet hers. He could taste the alcohol on her breath. It was then that a siren echoed out and the door to leave the rooms locked shut. They felt the station shutter as the solar shields locked into place, and they felt it rumble again as the Solar Reserves kicked on, ready to refuel themselves.

"How are you feeling about things now?" He crooned into her ear, sending shivers down her spine and causing a heat to rise between her legs.

"Look's like I'm stuck with you for two days." She mused before leaning up and taking his lips again, biting down on his bottom lip, drawing blood. He pulled back, surprised that she would play so rough. He liked it. Anya hadn't been touched by another person in over three years. She didn't realize how much she craved intimacy until now. She pressed her palms to her desk and pushed herself up onto it so that she was sitting. Kylo pushed her knees to the side with his hips, spreading her legs so he could get closer to her. His hands at her hips again, pulling her to the very edge of the desk, her core pressed against his pelvis. She could feel his hard length though the fabric of his clothes. Thinking about it, she moaned and let her head fall back as he nibbled a trail of kisses and bites down her neck to where the collar of her dress met her skin. Anya tugged at Kylo's shirt, pulling at it, and then pulling it up off over his head. She drank in the sight of him, her eyes drunk on him and only him.

"How do you feel about this dress?" Kylo asked her.

"It's not my favorite." She said. He brought his hands up to her neck, and looped his fingers at the collar, and with one swift moment, he ripped the entire garment in half, it falling to tatters around her. She let out a surprised and aroused gasp, her boobs completely revealed to him. Quickly, as if his life depended on it, he took one of her nipples into his mouth and sucked hard, causing something of a half moan half gasp to escape Anya's lips. The station began to rumble again, this time as the first waves of the solar storm hit it. Green, purple, and pink lights flashed into the room from the windows as the solar flares began their assault on the station. Kylo locked Anya's legs around his waist and lifted her up, taking her to her bedroom and flopping her on her bed. There was no artificial light in the room, only the green, purple, and pink hues from the storm. Kylo knelt down at the foot of the bed and grabbed Anya's ankles and dragged her to the end of the bed until her bottom was just at the edge.

He hooked his fingers on the flimsy fabric of her panties and pulled them off, tossing them behind him. He started first at her ankle, leaving a slow trail of kisses up her one leg, hovering briefly over her core for just a moment before making a descent of kisses down her other leg. Anya's mind was like mush, part of her couldn't believe this was happening. With each touch and kiss from him it sent jolts of electric pleasure through her. Anya not once questioned what Kylo was about to do, he could sense that she was game for anything. Placing both of his hands on her stomach, he slid forward until each hand was kneading a breast, his mouth then made contact with Anya's center, his tongue moving from her entrance to the little bundle of nerves at the top, lapping up her arousal fluids. She tasted sweet and it was intoxicating.

As he moved his tongue, Anya's eyes rolled to the back of her head and she let out a small moan. Reaching down, Anya tangled her fingers into Kylo's hair, pressing his face closer and harder to her. She wanted more. With her mind distracted by the endless waves of pleasure she was experiencing, it made it easy for Kylo to peer into her mind to hear just exactly what she was thinking. It was all repeated utterances of "Oh sweet maker"... "fuuuuck"... "more... more... just like that.".... "gosh... just destroy me already." Hearing her last thought, Kylo ended his oral ministrations of her and slid up, pulling them both to the center of the bed. He was now hovering over her, his pelvis secured between her legs and his hands up playing with her hair and cradling her face.

"I heard that..." He said.

"Wha... I didn't say anything." She breathlessly said. She was so goddamn beautiful, the trio of light dancing in her eyes, her blond hair fanned out on the bed.

"I heard you though." He said before leaning down and planting a kiss on her collarbone.

"Huh?" Her mind was in a dizzy.

"I cant hear your thoughts when I want to." He said.

"Oh!"She said with a gasp, coming to the realization that all the dirty thoughts she had about him in the past could have easily been accessible to him.

"Only when I want to though. Not all the time." He said, leaning down to kiss her again. Anya's fingers were ghosting at the waistline of his pants, she was trying to get them removed so that he could be fully naked as she was. Kylo lifted his hips and helped her by shimmying himself free of the garment. Anya ran her foot up and down Kylo's now bare leg, taking in the warmth of his skin pressed against hers. Kylo shifted his weight and moved his dick to align up with her center, rubbing it up and down to get coated with her wetness. Her hips bucked at the sensation, his tip rubbing over her bundle of nerves. Kylo slowly eased himself into her, moaning as her body opened up for him. She was hot, wet, and tight. He almost didn't want to move, he needed a moment to let all the sensations register in his mind.

Anya felt full and complete and her body was screaming at her demanding attention and sensation. She began to rock her hips, starting the thrusting herself. She moved her hand down so that she could rub herself as Kylo began his own thrusting into her. He instead grabbed her hand and pinned it up near her head.

"No. Only I get to do that for you." He said with a growl. He then pinned both her hands up by her head and began to move faster and harder. Anya was thankful this was all happening during a Solar Storm. Although all private quarters in the station were entirely soundproof, at that very moment she was doubting their privacy with the sounds, cries, and moans that were coming form her. She was thankful the storm was assaulting the ship, muffling out the noises that came from her room. With one fluid movement, Kylo wrapped his arm under Anya and flipped her over onto her hands and knees. He then began to take her from behind, his hands now kneading her ass. She had one of those perfect asses, like a peach, and plump, cushioning his pelvis with each thrust into her. He reached around and began to rub her clit, causing Anya to let out a new series of gasps and moans.

She was quickly climbing her mountain of ecstasy, and when she crested it, her walls spasmed onto Kylo, causing him to unload into her. It was all unlike anything Anya had ever felt or experienced before in her life. Kylo pulled himself from her and laid down on the bed, Anya too flopped belly down onto the soft surface. He reached over and pulled her to him, cradling her under one arm and putting her hand onto his chest. For a few moments, they both just lay there, Kylo twirling a piece of Anya's hair in between his fingers. They just laid there and watched the waves of light from the storm beam though the large window in Anya's room. It was Anya that broke away first to hobble to the bathroom. When she emerged she was wrapped in a silk robe, Kylo didn't like that to much, he wanted her to stay bare.

"Are you ok?" He asked, as she resumed her spot in the bed next to him.

"Yes. Are you?"

"Yeah. Better than ok." He said, trailing his fingers at the opening of her robe, pushing the fabric to the side to reveal one breast.

"I... I can't believe I did that." Anya said with a small chuckle after a few moments of silence.

"Me either... I mean, I cant believe I'm here." He responded. He had a different demeanor about him now with her. Stripped bare and alone just the two of them, he didn't seem like an all powerful and menacing being that everyone was so terrified of within the First Order. She didn't understand where the rumors and gossip came from when it came to the Kylo Ren. To her, in that room, in that moment, he was just a gorgeous, understanding, gentle, and tall man.

Anger, confusion, stress, and frustration. Feelings that Kylo often carried with him every single day, they all seemed to be distant memories to him now. Far away they were. Anya had this immense calmness about her a steadiness that he had never felt before. He felt powerful now. Like he could take on the galaxy single handed, like he could take on Snoke himself, like he could Force push an entire star destroyer. Kylo laid his head back and Anya reached down to pull the blankets over the two of them so they could sleep comfortably in each others arms.

***

Kylo's hands brushed over the sheets in the bed. He expected to feel the warmth from Anya next to him, but instead he felt nothing but coldness. He immediately sat up in the bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. The door to the bedroom was open and he could see a faint light coming from Anya's office. It was now morning and the storm was still assaulting the station. Kylo got up and pulled his pants on before going to the bathroom.

Anya sat at her desk in her office, wearing only her silk robe and her hair tied up into a loose messy bun. As much as she wanted to stay in bed with Kylo Ren for the foreseeable future, she had a station to run. She looked over status reports that came in over night about how the station was holding up with the solar storm. The solar reserves were refueling perfectly, and all personnel were safe and accounted for in their rooms. There really wasn't more she could ask for. Things were going as smoothly as possible. She didn't even notice a large shadow looming over her from behind, she was so absorbed in her work. Kylo bent down and nibbled at Anya's neck, causing her to jump. He took the datapad from her and placed it down on her desk.

"Working early I see?" He crooned into her ear.

"Out of habit." She said with a smile. Kylo scooped her up into his arms and carried her back to the bedroom tossing her back on to the bed and ripping her robe from her body.

***

Kylo had forbidden Anya from putting on any clothes during the entire time the storm assaulted the station. They spent their time just plain fucking, and between rounds, Kylo allowed Anya to reach for her datapad to check on any updates for the station that required her attention. He figured he had to at least allow her to do some of her usual duties as station Captain, or else someone might get suspicious.

The storm started to die down, and Kylo had his head resting on Anya's ass as she laid on her stomach on the bed scrolling through new reports. Eventually the storm was going to be over and they were going to have to leave these rooms and pretend that nothing ever happened. They had to think about how they would go forward with things.

"Hey." He said, getting up and scooting up to the top of the bed so he could look at her face to face.

"I'm almost done. I promise." She said.

"No... not that. We need to make things clear." He said just as Anya clicked off her Datapad.

"We do." She said knowing full well where he was going, she knew too that the storm was dying down.

"This is our secret. No one will know this happened. I can ensure you of that. I also don't want it to end."

"We go about our day like two professionals, nothing more." Anya added.

"When I get called back to Starkiller base or to the Finalizer, I'll make arrangements for you to be reassigned to wherever I am. You must be near wherever I am."

"Wouldn't that raise suspicions though? I'm a nobody from The Void suddenly getting attention from The Commander."

"Professionally, you're an excellent worker, you deserve a new promotion, a new assignment. I will give that to you."

"But here.... here we are truly alone. I trust every single person on this station to use discretion, no one here would gossip. You yourself said that you could use the planet exploration as a reason to come here whenever you wanted."

"Don't you want to advance? Don't you want the recognition you deserve?" He questioned her, pushing some of her hair to the side to reveal her neck.

"I do... but I'll settle for this. This is safer." She said bringing her hand up to caress his face. Although Anya didn't understand where the stories of how much of a tyrant Kylo Ren came from, she also understood that they had to have come from somewhere and that stories and rumors always have a bit of truth to them. Anya didn't want to press her luck of only knowing this calm version of Kylo Ren to change. She had no idea why he was different with her and here on The Oasis, but she was happy to not have yet met the notorious Kylo Ren. Kylo also began to agree with Anya, her staying on The Oasis really was the safest option. It kept her far from Snoke, far from Hux, and far from the true ravages of The First Order.

Kylo leaned in and began to kiss Anya's neck. Her body was now his. He had left his mark... or marks. All up and down Anya's neck and décolleté were the purplish markings his mouth had made, her wrists were bruised from him pinning them up by her head, and her lips were swollen and bitten. In a moment of his own distraction, Anya pushed Kylo onto his back and straddled his waist, taking his wrists this time and pinning them by his head.

"What do you think you're doing?" He questioned.

"You." She said with a devilish grin. She rubbed her center along his dick, he was pleasantly surprised to feel just how wet she was again for him. She did this over and over again, her hips moving in a figure 8 pattern, all while keeping him pinned beneath her. He knew he could easily overpower her as she had already been allowing him to do for nearly twenty four hours, but this time he wanted to see what she had in her. Where was she going to take this? Her breathing began to become uneven, sharp inhales mixed with soft moans. Anya let go of his wrists and then dragged her fingernails down his chest, he hissed in pain, the scratches drawing a little bit of blood. She then took his hands and brought them up to her breasts, all while she just grinded on him, his member not yet inside of her. With each rotation of her hips, her wetness became more apparent. He was beginning to get antsy, but he loved watching her. How she tossed her head back, how she bit her bottom lip, the flush that rolled over her chest. Her movements were getting less fluid as she was starting to approach her orgasm from just rubbing on him. He couldn't allow that to happen... not just yet.

He sat up, both of them now in a seated position, her legs wrapped around his waist. He lifted her up and aligned himself with her core and lowered her on to himself, taking a sharp inhale as he finally entered her. He backed up so that his back was firmly supported by the head board of the bed and began to thrust into her from beneath; his hand firmly grasped onto her hips. Anya steadied herself by grasping onto the headboard. They had probably had had sex at least half a dozen times by now, but each time she was always surprised by a new way he could come up with a way to elicit pleasure from her. This time was no different. His hands hadn't left her hips yet she found that there was a sensation working at her clit. She pushed off the headboard and grasped onto Kylo's shoulders to look at him. The thought popped into her head... was he using the force on her? He answered her by leaning forward and capturing his mouth with hers and manipulating the force to work even harder on her clit. She couldn't help but let out a deep moan into his mouth. She was quickly approaching another orgasm, this time it felt different, stronger, harder. As she reached her peak, she pulled back, burying her face into his neck. Her whole body shuttered as she released, her interior walls clenching hard on his dick, forcing a release from him as well. She had wanted to cry out in ecstasy, but no sound escaped her mouth, instead she was just left trying to catch her breath.

He took her face, cradling it in his hands and just looked at her, trying to etch how she looked in that very moment in his mind. Gods she was absolutely gorgeous. He gently planted a kiss on her forehead.

"You are the most beautiful woman in the entire galaxy." He breathlessly said.

"I most certainly am not." She said with a chuckle.

"Yes you are." He said pulling her to him so he could hold her against his chest.

***

The storm ended during sleeping hours, the locks on the doors unlocked, and Kylo dressed and snuck back to his chambers undetected. They went about their days just as they said they would. Professional by day, but Kylo sneaking into Anya's rooms at night. This went on for three weeks until an alert came into the station, one that jolted Anya right out of bed as it rang through in the early hours of the morning.

"What is it?" Kylo asked, seeing the worry on Anya's face as she checked and double checked her data pad.

"A star destroyer is coming... here... we've never had a star destroyer come here." Anya said. It could only mean one thing. the First Order was coming to collect Kylo Ren.

"What's the code that's coming in?" Kylo asked; Anya read off the code an he knew immediately who was coming for him.

"The Finalizer, my ship. I guess I'm being summoned back." He said, running his hands through his hair. Anya's heart broke just a little bit. She knew that this day would eventually come, but a part of her had grown a little but selfish and was growing to like having him in her bed every night.

"Get ready, all will be well. I'm going back to my rooms. No doubt The Supreme Leader sent Hux to fetch me, just.... be you." He said, kicking the blankets off of himself and getting out of bed. Anya knew exactly what Kylo meant by "be you". He made it no secret that Anya was an excellent Captain and leader, he had full confidence that anything Anya did, she did with precision and perfection. The two parted ways, prepared for that to be their last time they share a bed together for a long time.

Anya showered, dressed, and prepared herself to welcome one of the highest ranking First Order ships in the fleet, not to mention a high ranking General. Anya put on one of her all black uniforms that had a high turtle neck collared neckline and long sleeves. She tied her hair into a low bun. Her crew was panicking, they also had realized who was coming to the station. She marched into the command center to broadcast a message to her entire crew.

"Good morning, this is your Captain speaking. No doubt you have received this mornings alert. There is no need for panic or worry. I want to remind you all that you all are the best team of people to work with in the Galaxy. Let's welcome our guests with our hospitality that is well known here in these parts of the galaxy, and let's give our superiors something to be impressed with." Anya said. Kylo heard her little speech over the loud speakers in the hallway as he marched his way to the man hangar bay where they would welcome the command shuttle to the station. He was dressed in his full black regalia and helmet. With each passing minute he could feel the Finalizer getting closer, and he could feel the rush of anger, confusion, stress, and frustration seep back into his veins. He clenched his fists and stared out into the empty void of space.

Oasis Troopers where frantically trying to get in formation as Anya entered the hangar. She saw Kylo standing towards the front. The visor of his mast plastered out to space. She saw the tenseness in his shoulders and his fists balled up in rage. When she drew near him she felt a pang in her chest as the waves of darkness flowed off of him and on to her. He didn't even realize she had approached, the darkness and anger of the impending arrival of The Finalizer overshadowing Anya's usual calm and even aura. Anya reached out and placed a respectful, yet, tender hand on Kylo's elbow to get his attention.

"Sir... The Finalizer will be here within the next five minutes." She said, looking deep into into the visor of his mask, the thoughts in her head screaming out to him: "all will be well... all will be well." He relaxed for just a brief moment.

"Thank you, Captain." He said though his mask, his voice lingering on her title in a way that signaled to her that he was appreciative of her. They had come up with a pretty good system over the last few weeks, no one on The Oasis suspected a thing from the two of them. It was like a secret dance they did around each other. Their innocent and professional conversations having double meanings to them that the two of them only could understand.

The Finalizer appeared, coming out of hyperspace and sending a jolt of vibration through the station. The massive ship fully eclipsed the tiny station, even though it was hundreds of yards away, only capable of sending over the command shuttle since the Station was so tiny. Even the command shuttle was just almost too big for the largest hangar in the station. Elite stormtroopers from the Finalizer marched off the shuttle, followed by a tall lanky man with deep red hair.

"Commander Ren." The man said, approaching Kylo.

"General Hux." Kylo replied back.

"I see you've managed to survive being out here in this tin box of a station for the past several months. You'd been doing nothing but sending me detailed reports about how efficient things are running out here. When Supreme Leader told me to have you brought back to Starkiller base, I figured I'd come gather you myself to see just what is so praise worthy of this tiny speck of a station, as well as this Captain Harrow whom you've spoken so highly of in your reports. Tell me... where is the man, I would like to meet him." Hux stated in his usual flat and sarcastic tone.

"General Hux, I would like to present to you Captain Anya Harrow." Kylo said, motioning towards Anya, Anya stepped forward and saluted General Hux. It was clearly evident that Hux was taken a back at the sight of Anya. Not at all what or whom he was expecting out here in the middle of The Void. Hux's whole demeanor changed at the sight of Anya, he smiled.

"Well... my apologies Captain. I did not realize..." he said, reaching out and taking her hand.

"No worries General... it happens all the time." She said with a professional and friendly smile.

"Well... Commander Ren has been sending reports that just sing of your praises of all that you do here on The Oasis. I genuinely am intrigued. I would love to see what you have going on here." He said, all without dropping her hand, in fact he clasped her hand between both of his.

"I'd be glad to show you around." Anya said, being her usual polite self. Hux motioned for Anya to lead the way, when she went to walk past him he place his hand at the small of Anya's back, and Anya shot a nervous look over to Kylo. Kylo flexed and then squeezed his fists in anger. He knew exactly what Hux was doing and what he was thinking. Kylo followed closely behind them, watching Hux's every move.

Anya gave her professional tour of the entire station, and Hux was particularly handsy with her. Through each doorway they walked through he put his hand at the small of her back, when she spoke he wouldn't look at her, he would look at her lips or take it upon himself to move a piece of her hair. Kylo was seething with anger, so was Anya. Whenever she could she shot Kylo a glance, clenched her jaw, flexed her hands, and cracked her knuckles. She was pissed, but there really wasn't anything she could do about it at that very moment. Such was the life of an inferior ranking woman within The First Order.

"And this is the command center for the station." Anya said as they entered the outdated space.

"My goodness... when was the last time this place received an overhaul!?" Hux gasped looking at all the old equipment.

"The radar machinery dates back to the Clone Wars." Anya said pointing to the outdated unit, this seemed to excite Hux and he walked right over to it. Kylo went and stood next to Anya, while Hux's back was turned, Anya discreetly grabbed Kylo's hand and gave it a squeeze before walking forward to explain some more about some older equipment.

"I am exceptionally impressed with how you run this station Captain Harrow. Commander Ren mentioned in his reports that it's been some time since your superiors have acknowledged the work you do here. I will be personally putting in an inquiry into the matter. I will also have my men bring over new radar equipment from The Finalizer this very day, we have a few spares on the ship. I will also insist that you take leave and join us over on Starkiller base. I'd be happy to return the favor and give you a tour of The First Order's most premier base in the entire galaxy." Hux said, taking Anya's hand... again.

"Thank you General, we would greatly appreciate the new equipment and recognition." Anya said, not even daring to touch the invitation to Starkiller Base.

"Well... this was always meant to be a short visit... unfortunately. I am, however, exceptionally, glad I came personally. Alas, I am needed back at Starkiller, so is Commander Ren. I do hope the Commander wasn't too much of a burden to you here." Hux said in a way that almost implied that he was trying to flirt with Anya by putting Kylo Ren down.

"No... not at all. The Commander was an excellent guest. He will be greatly missed." She said, emphasizing the word: excellent.

"Well... Like I said... I insist you come visit me on Starkiller." Hux said, putting his hand again at the small of Anya's back.

"I thank you for the invitation, I will keep it in mind." Anya said politely.

"Well Ren... We need to be heading back. Bring your ship back to the Finalizer. We depart within the hour." Hux ordered.

"I actually need to go over the repairs we did to Commander Ren's ship with him, but it should take no time at all." Anya interjected.

"Everything here is by the book! Textbook perfect! I love it! Take all the time you need Captain." Hux said before leaving Anya and Kylo in the command center. Once Hux was gone and the door shut to the command center, Anya turned to the two officers manning the center.

"OUT! BOTH OF YOU!" Anya spat with such anger Kylo had never seen before. With the two officers gone, Anya brought her hands up to her face and covered her face before sighing a sign of relief that Hux was gone. Kylo was still seething with jealousy and anger over everything he saw Hux do. How he touched Anya, how he acted around her, his body language, everything. In a fit of anger, Kylo ignited his lightsaber and began slashing at the old radar machine sending sparks flying everywhere. Anya just stood there watching him, the sparks and embers landing just at her feet, not even caring since the machinery was going to be replaced anyway. She had yet to see an outburst from him before and on this, their last day together, he threw a fit in the Command center, and she liked it. He was losing focus, just seeing anger. He was nearing his saber towards other, more vital equipment in the center.

"ALRIGHT!" Anya yelled out at him. He turned to her, still raging with anger, and marched over to her, he put his hand at her throat and pushed her towards the wall. For a brief moment Anya was worried. Had she done something wrong? Was she too nice to General Hux? Was her professionalism towards him mistaken? Kylo could sense that she again was blaming herself for the advances from a superior, but she had done nothing wrong, he knew that. Kylo disengaged his saber and removed his helmet, all while still keeping Anya caged to the wall.

"You're mine. No one else's." He said with a growl.

"I would rather die than be anyone else's." She said, instantly calming him. She reached out to him, grabbing him by the fabric of his cloak, and pulled him tightly against her, further pinning herself against the wall.

"I am yours." She whispered, his breathing calming. She reached up and tucked a piece of hair behind his ear before standing on her tip toes to kiss him. He melted into her kiss, enveloping his body around her.

"Come with me." She said, pushing him off of her and taking his hand and pulling him out of the Command center and down the hall. They reached a door and Anya put in a code into the door panel and the door slid open, inside was nothing more than a simple supply closet filled with crates, boxes, and old chairs. Anya pushed him into the room and locked the door behind her. She reached for the belt of his pants and undid it before pushing him down into a chair. Getting on her knees in front of him, she further undid his pants, releasing his cock. He said nothing as he watched as she took it into her mouth and began sucking, also bringing up her hands, her left had rubbing his length clockwise and her right hand rubbing him counterclockwise, all while she eagerly sucked on the head of his dick. The multiple sensations was sending shockwaves through his whole body. It was the best he had ever had, ever could dream of. He came quicker than he could have ever anticipated, Anya taking his cum right into her mouth and swallowing.

She pulled away from him, still on her knees, and he leaned down and took her face in his hands, wiping a dribble of his cum away with his thumb from the corner of her mouth. They locked eyes together and he peered into her thoughts. "No one gets me but you. I am yours and only yours. I will be obedient to only you." Her thoughts echoed. He pulled her up to him and kissed her, tasting his own saltiness in the process. Keeping her right on her knees, Kylo manipulated the force around her clit. Anya didn't break eye contact with him as the electrifying sensations filled her body, she spread her knees a little more and leaned towards him more, resting her hands on his knees, and he continued his attentions towards her. She leaned into him, locking his mouth with hers with a kiss to muffle any moans that came from her as she came.

As Anya caught her breath, Kylo made himself presentable, noting the lipstick marks that was now smeared all over his length. He helped her to her feet and kissed her once more. Before they exited the supply closet, Anya too adjusted herself to ensure she looked decent and not disheveled. Together they walked to the hangar where his ship was left. The excuse about going over repairs had been a lie, Anya had already gone over the repairs with Kylo weeks prior, but Hux didn't need to know that.

"I will be back. I promise you." Kylo said to her.

"No rush. I'll be here." She said with a smile. He looked back at her before getting into his ship. Anya stayed in the Hangar until Kylo's ship was nothing more than a floating sparkle in the sky making it's way to the Finalizer, she even stayed long after the Finalizer disappeared back into the voids of space.

**************

Hello all and welcome to the long awaited Affair chapter. Well over 10000 words! I hope you enjoyed it! One more "flashback" chapter and then we will bet to even MORE exciting things. The next chapter I promise you will be just as long, if not longer, and deff there will still be plenty of 😏😏😏 for you! I leave you now with a few pictures that have served as inspiration for Anya.


	6. Runaway

Note:

Hey! Welcome! So there is a song called No Time To Die by Billie Eilish. I know it's for the new James Bond movie, but I still think it's so very beautiful and appropriate for our story here.

A week after Kylo left to return to his normal duties, a surprise shipment of supplies arrived by First Order Freighter. Anya stood in the loading bay of the station as crates upon crates, upon crates of supplies, new equipment, new weapons, new uniforms, food, recreation activities, and much, much more was unloaded. She was dumbfounded. They had been needing supplies and equipment for a very long time. During Kylo's stay he had personally put in an order for food supplies to come since they were growing tired of eating their reserves. Anya did not expect this. Did he order another shipment of supplies after he had left?

At the very back of the freighter, one of Anya's officers appeared carrying a large arrangement of flowers. Anya's stomach immediately soured. It was an all white arrangement of lilies, orchids, and daisies. The thing was massive.

"This is for you!" Officer Kit said with a giggle. Officer Kit was a young, ditsy female officer assigned to the station. Anya both liked her company and disliked her company. It was nice to have female companionship every once in a while, but Kit was shallow, naive, and very girlish.

"Oh..." Anya said as Kit put the arrangement down on a nearby counter, Anya reached up to the card that was tucked behind the flowers and said a silent prayer hoping to whatever gods there were out there that this arrangement did not come from who she suspected it came from.

"Thank you for your hospitality. I hope these gifts help you and your crew to continue to further First Order interests.

\- Admirably, A.H"

Of course.... the flowers were from Hux. Anya made a point to show no emotion whatsoever while Officer Kit stared at her with a toothy grin on her face.

"Well!!! They're from the General aren't they!? I could tell he likes you! I'm not surprised though, you are so pretty, like I'm always telling you." Kit said through a fit of girlish giggles.

"They are, but they are for the whole crew. The General is impressed with everyone here, we are being recognized for our efforts. The flowers can be put in the mess hall... for everyone to enjoy." Anya said somewhat sternly to Kit who's smile immediately fell from her face.

"Ma'am... this box is labeled for you." Another officer said coming up to Anya holding a small shoe boxed sized black box. The box was placed next to the flowers, Anya opened it and briefly saw that there were three books inside. She smiled.

"Thank you officers, please continue to take the inventory of all these items, I'll review everything later." Anya said, closing the box once more and picking it up.

Anya couldn't wait to get back to her rooms to tear open the box. She knew exactly where this gift came from. Inside were three leather bound books. The first was titled: "Myths and Tales From The Far Away" , the second one was titled: "Botany and Fauna of the Farthest Reaches". The third book however had no tile on it's cover and it looked much newer than the other two books.

The other two books looked to be antique and collectible in nature, with their slightly worn covers and thumbed through pages. The third book was shiny and new. It was a deep matte black with intricate designs etched into the leather, the edges of the pages were gilded in a red metallic, and a clasp kept the front and back cover locked together. Anya searched the box for the key to open the book, and she found it fixed to the lid of the box.

Unlocking the clasp to the book, she opened the book to the title page: "Secret Fantasies and Desires". Behind the title page, a small sliver of paper slipped out. Anya opened it to reveal it was a note.

"Page 84. Try not to miss me. -K" Anya suddenly felt stupidly giddy, she kicked off her shoes and tucked her feet up under herself as she thumbed through the book, quickly realizing that it was a book of erotica, but not the tasteless kind. The book was filled with short stories about the escapades of various lovers, and gorgeous and tasteful artwork. Anya found what she was looking for... Page 84. This short story was called "The Fae and The Huntsman." Anya looked over the intricate artwork that depicted an beautifully ethereal woman dressed in almost transparent white gowns, and a dark menacing looking hunter who would visit her in her realm. Anya couldn't wait to read it.

***

In the weeks after, General Armitage Hux had become a man obsessed. Upon returning to Starkiller base he looked up any and all files pertaining to Captain Anya Harrow. He kept this new found fascination to himself, not wanting anyone else to learn of his school boy behavior towards a woman he only met once. He became convinced that she was the most ideal woman in the galaxy, and since in his own opinion he was the most ideal man in the galaxy, he wanted a shot with Anya Harrow.

He personally made inquiries into Captain Harrow's superiors, and into why The Oasis had been neglected. He sent a supply of goods via freighter and dared to even send an ostentatious arrangement of flowers. Hux thought he was being slick, that only he knew his own feelings and obsession. Kylo knew too, Kylo knew everything, and it infuriated him. Kylo also knew that there was no way in hell Hux would ever have a shot with Anya, that he was confident of, and it was the only reason Kylo refrained from slaying Hux on the spot. Yet the General's loud thoughts vexed Kylo incessantly.

"Where you aware that Captain Harrow's father is a Colonel here at Starkiller?" Hux randomly asked Ren one day while they were in the Command Center of the base.

"No." Kylo all but growled.

"The man has a long and loyal history with The First Order and the Empire. His career is quite impressive. I have made arrangements for him to work now on my team." Hux stated. Under his helmet, Kylo rolled his eyes. Who was Hux trying to fool and what was he trying to prove?

Sure enough within a matter of days colonel Hennix Harrow arrived to his new station. The man was a tall, stern looking man. His hair all white with age and sharp features. The man shared a few features with his daughter, but what he shared most was his manner of speaking and mannerisms. Anya Harrow had definitely inherited her leadership skills from her father.

"Colonel Harrow. What an honor it is to have you join us." Hux said as the Colonel approached Hux and Ren in the Command center.

"I am truly honored to be here sir." The man said.

"I feel the need to apologize. The First Order seems to have been blind when it has come to your family. After meeting Captain Harrow I was quite impressed with her skill, I am also very impressed with your history and reputation Colonel, which is why I have asked you to join my team." Hux said.

"My daughter is a fine leader, I am very proud of her. Thank you." The Colonel said. Kylo really couldn't take any more of it, Hux's thoughts were loud and practically screaming. Hux hoped that my getting close to Anya's father that she could some how be persuaded to favor him. Kylo huffed under his helmet and clenched his fists. Kylo went to turn away to leave.

"Ren, where are you going?" Hux questioned.

"Supreme Leader has given me leave to explore the uninhabited planets in The Void to search for Skywalker. I'm departing for The Oasis. Colonel, I'll give your regards to Captain Harrow." Ren all but snarled.

"Oh... I have supplies to send for The Oasis... will you..." Hux began.

"No." Kylo said as he marched off.

***

It had been a full month since Kylo left The Oasis, and he now flew his TIE with intense anger and rage. He refused to just take supplies that Hux insisted on sending. Kylo left Starkiller as soon as he could. Once he was a good distance from the base, Kylo sent word to The Oasis of his impending arrival. Once he saw Anya standing in the hangar, all the anger and rage he felt towards Hux faded. There she was, standing faithfully and obediently waiting for him.

"Welcome back Commander." She said to him with a somewhat seductive look on her face.

"Couldn't wait to get back." He said only loud enough for her to hear. He wanted to just throw her over his shoulder and carry her back to her rooms, but they had to maintain self control in full view of Oasis Personnel.

Anya felt foolish and stupid at her body's involuntary reaction towards seeing Kylo Ren. How he exited his TIE, clad all in black, his broad shoulders, his cloak, his helmet... all things that were meant to be intimidating to the average person, they excited her. Oh the dirty things she wanted that man to do to her, the things he had already done to her that left her craving more. They walked the halls in professional silence, Anya putting on a show of escorting the Commander to his quarters on the Station.

"Come to my rooms in five minutes." Anya whispered to him as she left him at the door of his supposed room. She stood close enough to him that he snuck a hand out from under his cape and firmly squeezed her ass before she walked away. She let out a little squeak before she disappeared down the hall towards her room.

She waited in her room for him. Her heart fluttering and a little evil side of her getting excited. A week prior a luxury good merchant had some into the station for repairs, he was a seller of all sorts of ornamental goods, body lotion, soaps, and lingerie. The merchant paid for the repairs on his ship with credits, but Anya took it upon herself to browse his inventory of goods, making a few personal purchases for herself.

She chose several lingerie sets made of various laces and fine satins and silks. When Kylo had sent word that he was on his way to The Oasis, Anya quickly readied herself, putting on an all black lace bra, panty, and garter set under her uniform.

The door to Anya's office slid open, and Kylo stepped inside, his cloak and helmet removed. He took three large strides towards her and grabbed her with a fiery passion, bringing his lips to hers. Anya tangled one hand in his hair, and the other hand she gripped at his tunic drying desperately to pull him closer to her. He kissed her silly, kissing her all over her face and up and down both sides of her neck. His hands wandering around her waist towards her ass, gripping her firmly. She wanted to pull him towards the bedroom, but to their utter horror... they were interrupted by the door chime.

Anya pushed Kylo away, and he darted toward her library. No one had seen him come in, he made sure of that. Anya straightened her dress out and opened the door. It was officer Kit.

"Another shipment of supplies arrived shortly after Commander Ren arrived! Look what came for you!!" Officer Kit said, holding out a bouquet of pink roses. Kylo... hidden in the shadows of the adjacent library heard everything that the ditzy officer said.

"You can put those with the others in the mess hall." Anya ordered Kit.

"But ma'am... these ones are for sure for you!!! Look at the card! He didn't even put it in an envelope! See I told you he likes you!"

"Fine Kit... thank you... now please go oversee the supply organization. I'm not feeling well, I'm resting for the rest of the night. I'm not to be disturbed." Anya said flatly.

"Yes ma'am!" Kit said before leaving, Anya locking the door behind her.

"Dammit." Anya uttered feeling a change of energy come from the library. Kylo emerged from the library, his jaw clenched in anger, he marched over to Anya and tore the flowers from her hand and ripped the card off of where it had been pinned.

"May these brighten your day. -Yours, A.H" The card read. Rage suddenly filled Kylo again.

"Other ones? What other ones!?" He demanded to know.

"He sends an arrangement with every damn shipment of supplies." Anya said.

"And what have you done with them?" He fisted the flowers by the stems, the stems cracking in his furious grip.

"I put them in the mess hall and tell the crew they are for the whole crew, not me."

"You should burn them... don't even accept them!" He raised his voice.

"He has transferred my father to his team. My father has been waiting his entire career for such a transfer! I don't want to jeopardize my father's position!" She too raising her voice. He gritted his teeth and just stared down at her, both of them getting angrier with each other.

"Have you flat out told Hux you aren't interested?" He asked.

"No... and I cant! You have no idea what it's like being a woman in The First Order! I've worked my ass off to get to this position by my own merit! I've seen other women's careers crumble and fall simply for refusing the advances of a superior! So I've done nothing. I've said nothing! I pray he gets the hint and leaves methe hell alone!"

"Well he wont. He's obsessed with you! It takes all my power to not kill him on the spot every time I'm near him." Kylo began pacing the room. The flowers still fisted in his hand.

"Are you jealous?" Anya said, raising one eyebrow, he didn't answer. How could he not be jealous? Here he was, forced to sneak around secretly with her whereas Hux could openly and freely send her flowers and show favor to her and her father without a care or concern. Kylo could do no such thing. He feared that he risked her very life just by having a simple attachment to her. He feared what Snoke would do if he found out. Kylo took the flowers and marched into her bedroom and smashed them down on the bed, the petals flying everywhere. He beat the mattress in anger with the flowers until he only held naked broken stems in his fist, the petals strewn all over the bed.

"Get over here." He said, and Anya dutifully complied. He pushed her down on the the bed, her back pressed against the petals and began to aggressively kiss and nibble at her neck.

"Wait..." She breathlessly said as he started to push up the skirt of her dress, he froze when his fingers grazed the garter on her thigh.

"What's this?" he asked.

"A surprise." She said with a devilish grin. Kylo allowed Anya to get up and watched in awe as she unzipped her dress and let it fall to the floor, revealing the intricate undergarments that were most certainly not First Order issued. He drank her in with is eyes, and then pulled her back down onto the bed, burying his face in between her breasts.

"Mine." He growled. Moving his hands up and down her whole body, his gloved hands disappearing between her thighs and lightly grazing the thin fabric that covered her center. Anya was breathless, it had been a long month without him, and the Black Book he sent her was no substitute for his hands and his mouth on her skin.

He pushed aside the fabric of her panties and rubbed his fingers up and down between her folds, coating his gloved fingers with her wetness, all while nibbling and kissing at her neck. She couldn't help but arch her back and let out little moans with each new sensation he was inflicting her with. Her hair was getting tangled with the flower petals and the little noises that escaped her mouth drove him wild. "Hux fucking wishes." Kylo thought to himself, making him chuckle.

"What?" She breathlessly said.

"Nothing. You're just so damn beautiful.... and wet." He said as he pushed one finger inside of her. Every time he complimented her she always blushed... every... single... time; and it drove him crazy. He pulled away from her and began to strip himself of his clothes and then climbed back on top of her. He positioned his hips between her legs, pressing his body into hers, the lace of her garters tickling at his bare skin. She brought her hands up to his head and pulled him down into a kiss.

Reaching down he pushed her panties to the side and pushed his length into her. She let out a soft pleasured whimper as her body adjusted to his size. He moved slowly and fluidly, not wanting to finish too quickly. She pulled him close and tight to her, kissing him up and down his neck and face. The fragrance of the now crushed flower petals filled the room as did their soft moans.

"You should go faster." Anya whispered, her body growing impatient and in desperate need for release. She didn't need to ask him twice. Lifting her up off her back, he sat her up until they were both in a semi seated position, all while now aggressively thrusting into her. Anya's mouth dropped open and she squeezed her eyes shut as his thrusts slammed into that sweet spot deep within her.

"You like that?" He said into her ear.

"Ye... yeah." She could barely say.

"Hux fucking wishes he could do this to you. Only I can do this. Only me."

"Only you."

"Do you want to come?"

"Yes... yes." She said breathless. He captured her mouth with his and without letting up his aggressive pace, he started to manipulate the force around her clit. Next came his favorite part; her undoing. She whimpered and moaned into his mouth, her legs clamping hard around him, and her fingernails digging deep into his shoulders as she came hard. The hard spasming of her inner walls sent him spiraling, unloading into her. He fell forward onto her, both of them bouncing on the bed, the flower petals sticking to their skin.

***

No one at Starkiller base had any suspicions as to why Kylo Ren spent sporadic amounts of time at The Oasis; not even Hux, the man was a damn fool. Hux spent his days working closely with Colonel Harrow in the hopes of winning over the man's favor so that he could... in a round about way... get in his daughter's good graces. Even after months of silence from Anya, not even as much as a "thank you" note, Hux still sent a weekly bouquet of flowers. The man couldn't take a hint.

As time went on, Kylo began to no longer care as much about the things Hux said or did regarding Anya. Hux still annoyed him, but Kylo was confident and secure when it came to Anya's loyalty to him. Anya was utterly devoted to Kylo, even though they never spoke about their feelings towards each other out of a mutual shared fear of the unknown.

Things got a bit... sloppy... at The Oasis. It was common knowledge that something was going on between Captain Harrow and Commander Ren... though no one spoke of it out loud, both out of respect for Anya and fear of Kylo Ren. There had been a few occasions Anya and Kylo had let their guard slip. There had been two or three times Kylo was spotted by station personnel either going to or coming from Anya's rooms at inappropriate hours. There had also been a few occasions where the two had been spotted sharing a brief moment of affection in the halls of the station.

Anya spoke to her father regularly, and all her father ever talked about was General Hux. General Hux this... General Hux that. Hux's plan of getting close to her father to win her father's approval was beginning to work. Hux in fact did have the approval of Colonel Harrow, and Colonel Harrow as constantly trying to drop hints to his daughter. Anya always just brushed him off or ignored the comments of praise towards Hux that came from her father.

"That's nice dad... I'm glad you're enjoying your new position." She would say. She wanted so desperately to just come out and tell her father that she wasn't interested at all in the accomplishments of Armitage Hux. She got close once... her father went on and on about what a fine character Hux had that he was probably the most eligible bachelor in The Order. Anya just faked that she was needed somewhere on the station and hung up her communicator on her father.

One evening, while Kylo was visiting the station, Anya's father called her. Anya was sitting at her vanity in her bedroom, fresh out of the shower while Kylo was sleeping in bed. Anya's communicator rang and she answered it, trying to whisper so as not to wake Kylo. Kylo had had a tough week of training with the Supreme Leader, and the moment he got to The Oasis he stripped and climbed into Anya's bed.

"Hello darling." Her father said.

"Hi dad." She said as she wrapped herself in a robe and slipped out of her bedroom to talk to her father in the library.

"How are things at the station?"

"They are well... same as it always is, nothing new really to report."

"The Commander is set to arrive to the station, he goes there quite frequently."

"Yes... he is no bother to us, he comes to search for Skywalker." Anya lied knowing full well that it had been months since Kylo even bothered to go search one of the unexplored planets.

"I wanted to talk to you about something."

"What's that?" Anya asked, feeling her stomach tie up in knots.

"Your enlistment contract comes to an end in two months. Have you thought about what you want to do?" He asked, she swallowed hard. Of course... it hadn't dawned on her, but she was nearing the end of her enlistment contract with The First Order. Had all that time really passed?

"Is it really? I didn't realize."

"Well... I'm just going to go out and say it. I would like to see you settled... you don't need to reenlist."

"Settled?" She questioned.

"I have given my entire life first to The Empire and now to The First Order. We have made progress recently, the new weapons systems here on Starkiller will soon be operational. I believe now would be a good time for you to settle down, take your pension, make a home for yourself... get married... rise a family."

"I see..."

"Anya... You're young and beautiful. I would like to see you cared for, it's time you left that station in the sky. There are many who think highly of you, who would... in my opinion be a good match for you."

"Oh... I see... You mean General Hux." She said, her tone changing.

"Well... yes. He has spoken to me about you."

"Really!? You don't say! You've only been dropping hints to me for months. To be honest dad... I'm not interested. Please stop playing match maker for me." She raised her voice.

"There is no need to raise your voice at me! You are the child of a Colonel with a family history that goes back to the Empire, the match would be..."

"Dad... I met the man once... I'm. Not. Interested." She said, her eyes darting to the door after hearing Kylo stir awake in her room.

"Stop being so stubborn! Many a happy matches have been made this way."

"Dad..." She went to begin just as Kylo came out of her bedroom. He was only wearing his boxers and he had a look of genuine concern on his face. He could tell Anya was angry and he could hear that she was arguing with her father. She wanted to say: "Dad... Use two brain cells... why do you think the Commander comes here so often? I'm spoken for." She wanted to just confess it all.. but she hesitated.

"Dad... I have to go. I'm needed in a Hangar." She said before ending the call. Kylo came up to her and scooped her up and took her back to the bedroom. She was hot with frustration.

"What's wrong." He said holding her close as they lounged in the bed.

"My dad... that's all."

"Oh?"

"My enlistment contract is ending soon. I have to make a decision, and my father feels like he knows what the best decision should be."

"When does it end?"

"Two months."

"What does he want you to do?"

"He doesn't want me to reenlist.... he wants me to settle, and get married... and he has a candidate in mind." Anya said with a hint of disgust in her voice. She felt Kylo tense under her, she knew he knew who that candidate was.

"Well... what do you want?" He asked, she pulled away from him to look him in the eyes. She felt her heart tear in half. It was nearing a year that they had been "together", but was there a future in this? She had learned a lot about Kylo over the past year, he had freely confided in her about things. She knew his backstory, she knew how he was tormented, she also knew that she had become his safe haven through it all. She also knew that there was immense danger in all of this.

He could see that she was thinking, that she was searching her heart, and that she was conflicted. Part of Kylo was shocked that Snoke had not figured out what had been going on yet, but another part of Kylo knew that there was a possibility that Snoke did know, but never said anything. Before arriving a few hours prior to the station, Kylo had spent a full week enduring training with Snoke. Snoke praised him and went on and on about how he was displaying more raw power, and that Snoke was impressed. Kylo knew that his new found power and passion came from Anya. If she left... what would he do?

Kylo reached up and took Anya's face in his hands and gently kissed her. One kiss turned into a myriad of kisses, and they soon found themselves in that tangled mess with each other that they frequently found themselves in. Anya lowered herself onto his dick and entwined her fingers with his before slowly lifting herself up and down, her robe loosely around her, one pink nipple fully exposed to him.

He just watched her ride him, shoving his own throbbing discomfort and need for release to the side. There was and would be no one else like her in the entire Galaxy. Kylo had had glimmers of another being out there, someone the force merely hinted at, but nothing like Anya. There would never be anyone else like Anya. He gripped at her hips as she brought herself to her climax before flipping her over onto her back and taking full control. Spilling into her after a dozen or so aggressive stokes, he cradled her in his arms.

"Stay... for me." He said.

***

General Enric Pryde's transport shuttle came into view of The Oasis. His ship the Steadfast was orbiting a planet a day's journey from the Oasis. It had now been 12 years since his youngest sister took her life and the life of her infant son. On this the anniversary of her death, he felt the need to pay his niece, Captain Anya Harrow, a visit.

The shuttle was welcomed into one of the larger hangars of the station and the General was greeted by a team of Officers and stormtroopers, his niece nowhere to be seen.

"Where is your captain?" He asked.

"Captain Harrow is on an exploratory mission with Commander Ren, sir." One of the officers said.

"What time are they expected back and what crew have they taken with them?" The General asked.

"We can send a message to them now, and they took none sir, they went just the two of them." Pryde had heard whisperings within the upper ranks of command that General Hux was particularly keen on his niece, he had also heard of Commander Ren's new found interest with exploring previously unknown planets within The Void. Pryde was no fool... not like Hux... and not like his Brother in law.

"Is this a usual occurrence, the Commander taking the Captain alone?" The General asked.

"Yes... and no.. Sir." The nervous officer said.

"Elaborate...."

"Commander Ren is here at least twice a month, he doesn't always go on the exploratory missions. It's been at least 2 months since he last went on one, and when he went on that one he went alone.... sir."

"Very well. Radio them, tell them they are ordered back here immediately." He ordered.

Anya had told Kylo in advance about the anniversary of her mother's death. He thought it would be a good idea to take her to one of the planets. He picked one he had already explored and knew to be safe, one free of beaked tentacle creatures. They sat together, his cloak spread out on the ground of the alien planet. To their back was Anya's ship, and they faced a babbling stream. She wasn't saying much today, but he could feel her sadness. In her hand she twirled a piece of grass as she just stared at the stream. He reached up and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear before leaning into her and kissing her neck. Anya was just about to lay back in the grass to look up at the sky when her communicator went off. It was Kit.

"What happened?" Anya said answering the call.

"General Enric Pryde is here. You are ordered back to the station immediately." Kit nervously said.

"We are on our way back now." Anya said before leaping to her feet and ending the call.

"What does Pryde want?" Kylo asked.

"He's... he's my uncle." Anya said nervously. They grabbed their belongings and boarded the ship, quickly making their way back to The Station. For a few minutes they sat in comfortable silence with each other, neither of them needing to say anything. "I'm sorry... he usually tells me when he's going to visit." Anya said.

"It's fine." Kylo said, putting his helmet back on as well as his cloak to ensure things looked as professional as possible. Back at the station Pryde stood waiting for his niece and the commander. He was no idiot, something was up with his niece and the Commander. The entirety of Oasis personnel behaved suspiciously around him, like they had secrets. Once Anya's ship landed in the station, he watched as Ren and Anya exited the vessel, Ren approached Pryde first.

"General." He said with his usual tone.

"Commander, I was not aware you were here." Pryde said.

"The search for Skywalker is of the utmost priority."

"General Pryde.... uncle... I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were coming." Anya said after saluting her uncle.

"The Steadfast is nearby, I of course remembered what day it was. Is the Commander aware of our relation?"

"Yes. I informed him on our way back to the station."

"Well... If you'll excuse us Ren." Pryde said, Kylo stepped aside and marched away from Anya and Pryde, making his way to the rooms that were supposed to be his when he was at the station. Anya took her uncle to her office and made him a drink. They chatted for a while, just catching up.

"I of course remembered what today was." Pryde said.

"Yes... twelve years." She said solemnly

"Have you called your father today?"

"Yes. I called him first thing this morning. He's keeping busy, which always helps." She said.

"And you... are you keeping busy?" Pryde asked before taking a sip of his drink.

"Yes... I asked Commander Ren if I could accompany him this morning. I thought it would keep my mind off the day."

"Your father is enjoying his new position under General Hux."

"Yes... yes... That's all I ever hear about." Anya said with a chuckle and rolled her eyes.

"Are you not happy for his advancement?"

"I am! He's... just been pressuring me... my enlistment contract comes to an end in 6 weeks. He wants me to make a decision." Anya said, looking into her glass.

"I know... he's spoken to me about it."

"Oh... did he tell you his idea." She scoffed.

"He did. I don't blame him for finding the idea appealing, and I completely understand why you don't find it appealing. Hux is a little bit of a prick. Your father just wants what's best for you, I do too."

"He calls me and lays into me about it at least once a week now."

"Well... what do you want? No matter what you decide, I fully support you. If you want to retire, I wont blame you or be disappointed, you've served the Galaxy and Supreme Leader, we all know that, you'd retire with honors and privilege. If you want to reenlist, then I can arrange for you to come work under me on The Steadfast. The Choice is yours."

"I... I don't know what I want exactly. I've been very happy here." She said as a faint blush rose to her cheeks as she briefly thought about her past year being the best she's ever had.

"Well, my dear, you have 6 weeks to decide. Come to the Command Ball on Courscant in three weeks time. You'll be able to see more of high command, I'll introduce you to my captains and officers. You can make your decision then." He said, taking her hand.

"Ok. That sounds lovely. Thank you Uncle." She said with a wide smile. Anya escorted her uncle back to the hangar where his shuttle was. It was announced that the General was leaving, so many Oasis personnel gathered to see the General off. Kylo Ren stood in the Hangar, watching Anya and General Pryde chat as they walked towards the shuttle.

"Take care my dear, and I look forward to seeing you at the ball. I'll have a formal invitation sent over you you immediately." Pryde said, before hugging his niece, and then professionally saluting her.

"Commander." Pryde said turning to Kylo.

"General."

"I hope you aren't proving yourself to be too much of a burden to my niece." Pryde said, his words having double meaning. Pryde had suspicions as to why the Commander was frequenting The Oasis, although he had nothing to really prove those suspicions, he had an instinct that told him otherwise.

"Of course not. I wouldn't dream of it." Ren replied.

"Very well." Pryde said before boarding his ship.

***

"My uncle invited me to the Command ball in three weeks. Do you attend?" Anya asked as she and Kylo laid together naked between the sheets of her bed. Kylo had just been staring up at the ceiling, twirling Anya's hair between his fingers. He would be leaving in the morning.

"I have in the past, it isn't my most favorite event of the year." He said.

"Well I'll be going, I've never been." She said.

"Then I'll be going too... someone will have to keep Hux away from you. He goes every year."

"I'll stab him myself."

"Oh... I know you will." He said with a chuckle.

***

Armitage Hux stopped to check his appearance in any and every reflective surface he passed on his way towards the landing pads of the Capital Center on Courscant. ColonelHarrow had invited him to be at the landing pad for when Captain Harrow arrived. Hux paced nervously, it had been a year since he first met her and saw her for the one and only time. Colonel Harrow had assured Hux that Anya was fully aware of his admirations for her. What colonel Harrow had left out what that although Anya was fully aware of how Hux felt towards her, she was replused by him. Something Colonel Harrow as certain would pass once Anya actually spent time with the General. Hux stopped in his tracts on his way to the landing pad when he saw that not only was Colonel Harrow present, but also General Pryde and... oddly... Kylo Ren.

"General Pryde... Ren... what an... odd surprise." Hux said to the two men.

"Oh... should be no surprise at all. Enric is my brother in law... and the Commander was just passing through." Harrow said to the nervous general. Before Hux could say anything, Anya's ship began to make its approach for landing. Kylo took that moment to leave, he and Anya had made agreements on when to meet secretly. As Kylo went to depart, he purposely bumped into Hux.

"Watch it." Hux said, dusting off his starch pressed coat.

"You look nervous Hux. Something on your mind?" Kylo scoffed before he left. Anya could see the group of men waiting for her. "Her men" She laughed to herself. It was funny... the only man she actually wanted there was the one discreetly removing himself from the situation. Anya first greeted her father with a hug when she got off her ship. Although she spoke regularly to him, it had been a very long time since she had seen him face to face. She then greeted her uncle, and was... presented... to General Hux.

"Anya, you of course have met General Armitage Hux before." Her father said.

"Yes. We were acquainted last year." She politely said.

"Let me help you with your luggage." Hux said, reaching out to grab Anya's one large bag.

"Oh... you don't need to." Anya said, but he had already grabbed it.

"Oh, it's no problem. My pleasure." He stupidly said. Anya linked arms with her father and made a point to only show her father and uncle attention while Hux followed closely behind. From a distance, Kylo watched the whole scene unfold and laughed to himself at how foolish Hux was being.

Courscant was the First Order's capital planet. Every year the Command Ball took place to celebrate the accomplishments of the First Order. An entire luxury hotel was used for the occasion and security was the tightest in the galaxy. Anya went with her father and uncle to what would be her hotel suite. At the door, Anya turned to Hux and took her bag from him.

"Thank you General Hux. I think I want to rest for the evening. It's been a while since I've spent time on a planet. The gravity gets to me." She said.

"Oh... of course. Yes darling." Anya's father said.

"I'll be dining in the hotel restaurant this evening at seven... you're welcome to join me." Hux nervously said.

"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind." She said before entering her room and shutting the door behind her, finally alone, much to her relief. At least she thought she was alone. Anya rolled her eyes and pushed open the door to her bedroom and saw Kylo just standing there.

"Hi." She said with a smile. Her smiles always melted him.

"I'll bet you 5 thousand credits to kill him tonight."

"How did you get in here?" She said, kicking off her heels and sitting down on the bed.

"I have my ways."

"Of course." She said flopping down on her back on the bed.

"You tell me right away if he gets to be too much. I'll take care of it."

"I know you will." She said, taking his hand.

***

The Command Ball was just one of many activities that took place during the week. The entire week was devoted to meetings between other officials, award ceremonies, and other frivolous activities to boost moral between First Order elite and allied dignitaries. It was difficult for Anya and Kylo to find time together unnoticed. For some unexplained reason, The Supreme Leader had decided that this was the year he was going to make an appearance during the week of festivities, so Kylo was torn away for most of the time following his master around. Anya stuck closely with her father and uncle, with Hux as a pathetic shadow following her around.

Anya sat in a luxury restaurant that her father and uncle had chosen to take their breakfast in on the third morning of her arrival. Her father, Uncle, and Hux were ranting and sharing opinions about some sort of alliance issue that concerned them. Anya just sat silent pushing two uneaten berries back and forth on her plate. She stopped paying attention to them and instead let her mind wander. Where was Kylo at that very moment? What was he doing? Was he with Snoke at that very moment?

"Enough about that. Anya... Your enlistment is practically up!" Her father announced, pulling her from her daydreams.

"Oh... yeah." She said.

"I've already made my feelings known, I think she should take her pension and get settled." Her father said in a boastful manner.

"Well... darling, like I told you, if you want to reenlist, I'd be happy to have you on the Steadfast." Pryde said.

"What have you Hux? Where do you see Anya?" Her father said.

"Oh... well... I've long been impressed with Captain Harrow's accomplishments on The Oasis. Ultimately, I think no matter what her choice, I can be supportive. I do have to admit, however, if you do reenlist, I would much prefer you to join me on Starkiller Base." Hux said with an air of cockiness. Anya let in a sharp inhale. At this point she wanted nothing more than to just disappear into thin air and leave all three men behind.

"I am weighing all my options very carefully, I'll have a decision soon." Anya said. After breakfast, Pryde and Hux were to attend a General's meeting, leaving Anya alone with her father. The two walked in the gardens of the hotel, talking about old memories, and occasionally her father throwing in more hints about what he would like for his daughter's future.

"General Hux has asked to be your escort to the Ball." Her father said.

"Oh... I don't need an escort." Anya said.

"This isn't a suggestion.... it's an order." Her father gripped at her arm firmly. She just looked at him, angry.

"Why? Why are you insistent on pushing him on me? Have I not made myself clear? I am not interested." She said pulling her arm from her father's grip.

"There are many advantages to such a match. You have to see that! Hux is the future of the First Order. You could be the most influential woman in the galaxy."

"I am your daughter, not a political alliance!"

"I thought I raised you better than this. Marriages are nothing more than political alliances."

"Really? Is that so? What about happiness and love?"

"Have you been reading fairy tales? Love sometimes comes later."

"So you didn't love mom? Mom was just an alliance? Is that what you're telling me?" Anya snapped.

"At first... yes. It was arranged, but I did love her. I grew to love her. The love came later."

"Well... I don't want that. I'm done here." Anya started to walk away.

"Hux will, escort you to the ball. You will at least accept that!" Her father said as she walked away.

"Fine!"

***

Anya had on a corny holodrama in her bedroom. After the walk with her father in the garden, she was furious. Now she had to be escorted around the ball hanging onto the arm of Armitage Hux. Anya had poured herself several glasses of wine just to calm down. Anya rarely showed it, but she did have a temper. One that rivaled Kylo Ren's, though not as destructive. She had flipped a coffee table, threw a few odd items around the room; but nothing was beyond repair.

"Was there a fight while I was gone?" Kylo's voice came from Anya's bedroom door. Kylo had snuck into her bedroom and saw the disaster she had made in the sitting area of the suite.

"Where have you been?" Anya said in the not so nicest of tones.

"With Snoke. Like I told you."

"Must be nice."

"No not really. What happened?"

"I have been ordered to accept Hux as my escort to the ball." Anya said.

"I see." He said, trying to keep calm. He sat down on the edge of her bed and put his hand on her leg, but she shrugged away. Anya just focused her eyes on the holodrama and said nothing to him. He just patiently waited.

"I'm tired of this!" She finally said, her emotions bubbling forth. This was uncharacteristic of her. She was always calm, poised, and collected. She never burdened him with inner feelings. She spilled out everything she was feeling.

In recent months it had started to eat at her. The secrecy. The sneaking. The living in fear. Anya never previously thought of herself as a vain woman, but she still was a woman, a woman who wanted to be cared for, cherished, and loved... properly. Not in secret. Not hidden away. Not having to pretend. Not having to lie. Hearing what she had to say pained him. Seeing her in pain also pained him. He couldn't give her a future, he couldn't openly cherish her how she deserved to be cherished. He couldn't offer her any type of security... at least not yet. She said everything she needed to say. She was tired. Emotionally and mentally.

Kylo just sat at the edge of her bed, his elbows on his knees and his head hanging low. He didn't know what to say or what to do. He too was trapped. He was a slave to Snoke, to his demons, to the darkness. Anya wasn't even upset that he had nothing to say. Just venting to him was therapeutic to her. She knew he was tired of the secrecy and the lies. She knew he was also stuck, that he was trapped under Snoke's thumb and the burden of being... him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to unload on you." She said, scooting up behind him, wrapping her legs around him and hugging him from behind. Her hug soothed him for a moment. She was always so soothing, so nurturing, so caring... things he could not be towards her in return. Damn this... things were easier if she had just stayed out at The Oasis. Now things were beginning to get complicated.

"I have to go back to the Supreme Leader." He said after a while. Giving her the sense that he was shutting her out.

"You can't stay?" She asked before trying to kiss him on the cheek.

"No... I have to remain loyal to The Supreme Leader" He said, removing Anya's arms from around him. She watched as he disappeared as stealthily as he had come. She felt a sharp sting in her heart. Rejection.

***

After Kylo had left her, Anya cried herself to sleep. She cried because deep down inside of her she knew she had been foolish to get caught up with in an affair with The Supreme Leader's apprentice. She cried because she realized her feelings and that she was stupid for believing she could love Kylo Ren. Everyone else had obviously known, that's why everyone else in the Galaxy had immense fear of the man... she had just been stupid. Fallen for a lie based on his "good behavior" towards her on The Oasis.

There had been multiple occasions over the course of the year where she had seen his darkness and torment. Yet she foolishly brushed any red flags aside, making excuses for him, all because he was good to her in bed. Maybe her father was right, maybe she should settle for someone like Armitage Hux. Someone normal, not tied to ancient mystical arts and bloodlines.

Hux invited Anya to lunch the next day, which she accepted without a second thought. She was angry at herself, at her heart, and she really did need to think about her future. The lunch wasn't too awful. When it was just the two of them, he was tolerable. He still acted a bit stuck up, made things about him; but he was courteous and chivalrous. He paid for her lunch, pulled out her chair for her, stood when she stood, opened all the doors, did everything etiquette required of a man. Despite checking off all the requirements of what a "good man" was supposed to be, Anya felt nothing towards him. No spark. No chemistry. Just... blah.

"I would be honored if you would allow me to be your official escort to the ball tomorrow evening." He asked when they arrived back at the hotel.

"Yes. Of course." Anya said.

"I know I am not the most exciting of men in the galaxy. I did not have the most favorable of upbringings, but it has made me strong... stronger than most people realize. Your father sees that, and I hope you can see that too. I admire you because you are like me. You are disciplined, you care about your appearance, and you have ambition, among many other amiable qualities I have heard about. I had hoped that, no matter what your final decision is regarding reenlistment or not, you would give me the opportunity to get to know you better." He said, stopping Anya in her tracks. She blinked a few times, not quite sure what to say or how to respond.

"I did of course have this conversation with your father, and he did give me his blessing." Hux nervously said, breaking the awkward silence.

"Forgive me... I just... have never been asked such a question before. I will need to think about it." Anya said.

"Ye... yes... of course."

"Well... I'll need to get back to my room. Thank you for lunch, General."

"Please... call me Armitage."

***

Flowers arrived to Anya the morning of the Ball, of course from Hux. This time it didn't bother her, and she placed the bouquet on her nightstand. Since Kylo left her to return to Snoke, he had sent no word and he had not come to see her. "I have to remain loyal to the Supreme Leader" he had said before leaving her. What did that mean? Did that mean he wasn't loyal to her? Anya didn't want to get frustrated and ruin her evening. It was her first time attending the Command Ball and she was determined to enjoy it. She poured herself a stiff drink and got to work on her hair and makeup.

She had a dress selected for the occasion. All the men would be expected to wear their formal uniforms to this ball, but Anya would be wearing an emerald green satin gown. It had a fitted bodice and a long flowing skirt with a small train and a slit to one side. The neckline was V cut and it had thin straps over the shoulders. With it she paired simple heels and opted to keep her hair down in loose waves cascading down her back.

Anya admitted to herself that she looked good. So it was no surprise that Armitage Hux turned redder than his hair when she answered her hotel suite door when he arrived to escort her down to the ball.

"You look lovely." He stammered.

"Thank you. You look handsome yourself." She genuinely said. The man wasn't a bad looking guy, even though his hair was slicked back with enough gel that it could quite possibly serve as a helmet.

The ball would start first with a cocktail hour, followed by a formal dinner, and then dancing and socialization. The cocktail hour started in the lobby of the hotel with appetizers and drinks being carried about by waiter droids. There were stormtroopers posted at all entrances for security, and several masked men clad all in black milling about close enough to Anya that she noticed.

"Then damn Knights of Ren are here... pardon my language. They're barbarians, I have no idea why their attendance was welcome this year." Hux said to her. One of the Knights moved closer, purposely bumping into Hux.

"Excuse you!" Hux snapped.

"My bad... for the lady. Courtesy of Master Ren." The knight said nodding his head over to the bar, holding out a crystal glass with a shot of whisky and a sphere of ice... just how Anya liked it. Anya smiled and took the glass from the knight.

"Whisky? Surely that is too strong for you." Hux said to Anya, but Anya smiled and knocked back the drink without flinching.

"I'm stronger than I look." She said with a chuckle.

"So we've heard." The knight said before disappearing into the crowd. That comment make Anya raise an eyebrow. So the Knights of Ren knew about her?

"What did he mean?" Hux innocently asked.

"Oh... I had an incident involving a large hostile alien creature at The Oasis I am famous for, Commander Ren witnessed it. I can be mean and rise my voice when I need to. That's all." Anya said on the fly.

"Oh do tell. I am curious." Hux said, and Anya told him the brief story. After Anya finished her story, some men came over to chat with Hux. Anya looked around the room and spotted Kylo sitting in the shadows behind by the bar. The view finder of his helmet fixed on her. She gave him a sly look, immediately brining Kylo to his feet and across the room.

"Ahh Ren... so you decided to grace us with your presence this year. What I cant figure out are why your goblins are here." Hux said once Kylo made his way over.

"The Supreme Leader is attending tonight's dinner. Extra security is always necessary." Kylo said.

"Well... they could watch whom they're bumping into. Your one vermin almost knocked over Anya." Hux said, daring to put his arm around Anya's waist. Kylo fisted his hands into a ball.

"Was it Corellian Whisky you sent me, Commander?" Anya asked.

"No... Chandrillian... a rare commodity." He replied. It was then that it was announced that dinner would be starting and for everyone to make their way into the banquet room. Kylo looked at Anya one more time before departing the area to join Snoke as was his duty.

From across the room, Enric Pryde had see the whole entire altercation, and more. He had seen the moment Anya and Hux arrived. He noticed how all 6 of the Knights of Ren hovered a few yards away from his niece. He had seen Kylo Ren make the order for the whisky to be sent over. He also noted how the dark Knight not once looked away from Hux and Anya. He also noted his niece's not so secret glances over her shoulder at the Commander.

Pryde had had his suspicions since his visit to The Oasis. He was so sure about his intuition, that once his niece departed The Oasis for Courscant, he sent over a small team to question her officers in her absence. An Officer by the name of Kit told him everything he needed to know.... and more. Pryde chose to say nothing to his brother in law about the matter, and he was buying his time when it came to confronting his niece.

In the banquet hall, Hux pulled out Anya's seat for her and the two sat amongst well over a hundred other high ranking officials and guests. All now awaited for Supreme Leader Snoke's arrival. A head table had been prepared for Snoke to dine at. A moment came, a moment no one else felt... except Anya. The room suddenly grew cold, the hair on the back of her head stood up, and she felt uneasy. She felt the moment Snoke arrived at the Ball.

"Are you alright? You're pale as a ghost." Hux said to Anya.

"Just hungry is all." Anya said, fully aware that she felt this dread of darkness looming over her, unlike anything she had ever felt before. A loud horn blasted and everyone rose to their feet at the Supreme Leader entered the room. He sat at his lavish table and motioned for everyone else to sit and ordered dinner to commence. Stationed right behind Snoke stood Kylo, and stationed throughout the room was a mixture of Praetorian Guards and Knights of Ren.

Dinner started and Anya tried her very hardest to ignore the unsettling feeling she was experiencing now that Snoke was so near. She ate as much as she could, she smiled, and she chatted with those around her.

"Feeling better?" Hux asked.

"Yes... much." She said with a smile.

"You... look very beautiful... I know I've said that once already." Hux stammered. The man had been drinking.

"Thank you."

"I know... typically this should be reserved for the end of the evening, but... I was wondering... might I kiss you? Just a peck on the cheek?" Hux asked. Anya didn't know what to say or do, she just looked at him and he leaned in and kissed her cheek. It truly was a peck, nothing more. He moved his arm around the back of her chair and placed his hand on her shoulder. The moment it all happened she sensed a strong shift and the hair on the back of her head rose again. A trooper soon came over and whispered something in Hux's ear just as dessert was being served.

"The Supreme Leader is requesting our presence at the head table." He said to her. Anya followed Hux to the front of the room where Snoke was lounging after the decadent meal. Anya couldn't quite place what kind of Alien creature he was, but locking eyes with him she felt the room grow cold once more.

"Ahh... General Hux... and Captain Harrow... whom I've heard so much about." Snoke began.

"It's an honor sir." Anya said, curtsying out of respect, Snoke reached out for Anya's hand, which she obliged. The moment he touched her, she thought of one thing and one thing only: Her Mother and the darkness that had haunted her dreams before her death.

"You are far more beautiful than the images Kylo Ren has had in his mind. The boy's memory does you no justice." Snoke said. Anya's heart immediately dropped into her stomach. He knew... he fucking knew. Kylo too tensed up, wanting to step forward and place himself between Snoke and Anya. Hux shifted away from Anya, a look of confusion crossing his face. Hux looked at Anya, then at Snoke, then to Kylo, who was just looking down at his boots, his fists balled.

"I wanted to personally thank you... who knew all Kylo Ren needed to help him progress with his training was sex and a warm bed in The Void?" Anya had nothing to say. She was no longer cold, instead she was hot with embarrassment. Snoke had outed her and Kylo's affair in front of Hux as well as several other high ranking officials and her uncle who sat near by. Hux just about choked on his own spit and looked absolutely mortified.

"You're dismissed." Snoke said to Hux and Anya, dropping Anya's hand. Anya curtsied and then pushed past Hux and disappeared out into the Gardens of the hotel. Out in the fresh air she could breathe again. Sitting down on a nearby bench she doubled over and held herself. Things became abundantly clear. Her mother... the dreams she had... they were not dreams... they were visions. The Force had been strong with her mother and her brother, and Snoke was manipulating her the same way he manipulated Kylo. Only Anya's mother found her way "out".

Anya sensed a presence over her. She had expected it to be Kylo and half expected it to be Hux. Instead she looked up to see the sad eyes of her Uncle. Enric Pryde was a serious and ruthless man, but he had softness for one person and one person only: his beloved niece.

"Oh my darling." He said, sitting down beside her.

"I'm so stupid."

"You are not stupid. You are not the first woman to be in this position." Anya looked at him with confusion.

"I served the Empire before. This is a scenario that plays out no matter what the generation." He said.

"You are aware Hux is a bastard? I can name many other men and women who are the products of various liaisons. These things happen." He said again.

"Will I be killed? Is Snoke why Mom killed herself and Arrow?" Anya said, speaking of her eternally baby her brother.

"We may never know why your mother made her decision; but I have had my suspicions. I do not want the same fate for you."

"So... I'll be killed." Anya said. Anya looked over her uncle's shoulder and saw Kylo standing in the shadows, his helmet off. Distress written all over his face. Pryde caught this, he turned and saw the Commander standing there. Pryde knew everything he needed to know about his niece's relationship with Kylo Ren from Anya's officer. He knew it wasn't a forced relationship. He knew that in some round about way, Kylo Ren made Anya was happy. They were young... and with youth comes foolishness. Kylo approached Pryde and Anya, Pryde really wasnt certain what the dark knight would do.

"Commander." Pryde said.

"General." Kylo said softly, with the faintest hint of embarrassment. This whole situation and encounter was unusual and out of the ordinary.

"Commander... I had the pleasure and the honor to briefly work along side your grandfather as a young fleet officer." Pryde began.

"Is that so?"

"Yes. I greatly respected the man, as I respect all users of the Dark side of The Force. Although I do not fully understand the mystics of The Force as you do, I respect it. You do your Grandfather's memory merit." Pryde stated.

"Thank you General." Kylo responded. Pryde was being genuine, the man did have genuine respect for Darth Vader, Snoke, and Kylo Ren. Pryde watched the young knight as his gaze shifted from him to his niece, a look of genuine concern and softened in his eyes.

"I am curious, Sir... were you aware of the history of your grandmother?" Pryde asked.

"Padmé Amidala, she was a former queen of Naboo and a senator to the republic. She was killed at the hands of the Jedi." Kylo said. Of course, he wouldn't know they true story.

"That is what is commonly believed... yes."

"Do you know of a different tale then, General?" Kylo said, getting a bit defensive. Pryde looked at Kylo and then looked down at his niece.

"It is well known that the dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural. Our late Emperor knew of these abilities, and as a Lord of The Sith he believed in the rule of two... that there must always be a master and an apprentice. In certain circles it was whispered that the emperor used his abilities to remove the life force from Padmé Amidala to save the life of his apprentice; Darth Vader. Her loss fueled Vader's power for the remainder of his life. Like I said... I do not pretend to know or understand the mystics of The Dark Side but I have great respect for it." Pryde kept the story short, seeing that his niece and Kylo Ren were coming to an understanding as to the reason he was telling this tale.

"I understand." Kylo said.

"I'll leave you two. And Anya, like I've told you before. I support any decision you make." he said before leaving. Once Pryde was gone, Kylo stooped down onto his knees and took Anya's hands in his.

"I am sorry." He said.

"I am too... I should have never started this."

"Snoke doesn't have any ill plans towards you. He considers you an asset. We can continue... and maybe out in the open. No more secrets."

"No, Kylo."

"No?"

"All may be well now... but one day my death will be more useful to you." She solemnly said.

"That will never happen."

"You don't know that."

"One day I'll rule the galaxy." He said. Anya didn't have much more to say to him. She just gazed at him, his wide eyes looking back at her, his beautiful face, his hair, his lips. Despite how well he treated her in bed and in private, he would never truly be on her side as long as he had a master lauding over him. She couldn't place all her bets on "one day", because "one day" may never happen.

He leaned forward and kissed her tenderly. All thoughts of fear and doubt she had faded away. She pulled at his tunic, bringing him closer to her, slipping her tongue into his mouth. She craved him like a drug. She adored his hands on her, how his one massive hand was as big as her entire stomach. His hand slip through the slit in her skirt and he gripped at her thigh. Was this going to be her death... or her paradise. Kylo brought Anya to her feet and took her hand and began leading her back towards the hotel.

"What are you doing? I cant go back in there!" Anya said.

"We're going to my rooms." He said, putting his arm around her and holding her close. She was entirely incapable of saying no to him. Especially not after he had just kissed her the way he did and put his hands in all the right spots. At first Anya was embarrassed as they walked through the halls, people stopping to look at them and whisper. Word had gotten around fast. By the time they made it to the lobby of the hotel, all eyes were on them, and it thrilled her. She was grateful, however, that she had not caught sight of her Father or Uncle.

In the elevator, Kylo pressed her up against the wall and pinned her arms above her head. He started first attacking her neck with his mouth, leaving her neck flushed and the tops of her breasts red. When the elevator doors opened, he effortlessly lifted her up and tossed her over his shoulder, the skirt of her dress cascading down in front of him. It was a shame, however, that no one was in the halls to see the sight off Kylo Ren carrying off Captain Anya Harrow to his quarters.

Kylo brought her into his rooms and tossed her down on to his bed. She propped herself up on her elbows, just waiting to see what he would do to her next. Kylo left the room and she could hear him rummaging through drawers. When he came back he held a tiny black box in his hand and presented it to her.

"It's not much, but I wanted you to have it. It doesn't have to mean anything." He said. Anya opened the box to see a simple ring, a gold band of tiny round red rubies.

"It's... it's beautiful." She said, feeling a tightness in her throat and tears welling up in her eyes. He took the box from her and removed the ring. Taking her left hand, he placed the ring onto her ring finger. Anya reached up and held his face in her hands. An overwhelming sense of emotion overtaking her.

"I love you." She said.

"I know." He said before capturing her in his arms and pinning her to the bed, kissing her dizzy.

Kylo reached behind Anya and unzipped her dress and helped her shimmy out of it. All she wore underneath the gown was a thin black thong and her heels. Anya reached out and pulled Kylo's tunic up over his head and then began to make her way towards the waistband of his pants, but he stopped her. In what seemed to be one fluid moment, flipped her over until she was laying stomach down on his lap while he sat up on his bed. He had one hand on her back and the other caressing her ass. With one flick of his wrist he slapped her butt giving off the loudest slapping noise. Anya gasped as she felt her blood rush to where his hand had met her skin. "Hey!" Anya protested.

"You know you like it." He said. He was right, she did like it. It thrilled her. Anya got up and straddled Kylo and brought her arms around her neck and pressed her breasts against his chest while his hands cupped her bottom. Anya gazed at Kylo's face for a long time, like she was trying to memorize his features. She had this unsettling feeling deep down inside, she still needed to make a final decision. Does she stay?

It didn't matter now. Anya initiated the next kiss. Kylo balled his hand in her hair and yanked her head back, exposing her neck. Bringing his mouth to her neck he started with soft kisses before leaving a large and noticeable hickey. While he devoured at her neck, Anya gripped at his biceps and slowly rubbed herself against the bulge in his pants. Kylo had two sides to him when it came to fucking her. He was either soft, slow, and gentle; or he was rough, dominating, and fast. Tonight he was being both.

His hands glid up and down her skin, but every once in a while he would surprise her with a quick slap or a bite. He kissed her softly while pulling at her hair. He pinched at one of her nipples before massaging the pain away. She was dizzy from all the different sensations. Pain and pleasure.

"You'll stay with me." Kylo said to her while slipping his fingers into her folds and twirling at her swollen bundle of nerves.

"Always." She said, grinding into his hand, desperate for more sensation.

"You wont reenlist." He said, two of his fingers pushing their way inside of her, a squelch of wetness audible in the room.

"I... I wont reenlist." She breathlessly said, barely able to think or see straight.

"You'll only be mine."

"I'll only be yours." She said. Kylo flipped Anya onto her back, stood up, removed his pants, and then mounted himself between Anya's legs. Slowly he pushed himself into her, Anya tossing her head back with pleasure. He made her feel so full, both physically and emotionally. Tears welled up in her eyes and she began to cry. He had never seen her cry before. He dared not to move, wondering if he was hurting her. Through her tears she leaned up and kissed him, biting down on his bottom lip and sucking it into her mouth. He kissed away her tears, licking the saltiness off his lips.

He thrusted slowly at first, then, hooking his arm under her leg, he brought her leg up over his shoulder to reach a new depth within her. Anya squeezed her eyes shut as he hit the deepest spot within her. It didn't get any better than this.

He spilled himself into her and laid on top of her. He rested for just a moment before reaching down and rubbing her until she crested her peak of ecstasy. She cried out and mewed with pleasure and then was left trying to catch her breath.

He pulled her onto his chest and ran his fingers through her hair. She smelled like cedar and roses. Her skin was buttery and smooth, barely a blemish or scar to be found; and the lines of her body curved in all the right places. He watched her face as she drifted off into a light sleep, and he pulled her close keeping her warm with his body.

***

Anya found herself in a jungle. Ships were flying over head, explosions could be heard. Blasts from blasters darted here and there. Anya looked down to find that she was not wearing a First Order uniform. Instead she was dressed in a simple flowing pink gown. One she did not own nor had she ever seen before. The scene shifted and she as in a more remote part of the jungle. She saw Kylo. He was moving through the brush... his saber ignited... moving towards a girl dressed in tattered clothes. She saw him reach out and freeze the girl with the Force, and then she saw the girl pass out and Kylo scoop her up in his arms.

The scene shifted again. She now stood in darkness, barefoot on a snowy planet. Plasma and smoke thick in the air. Anya could see the girl in tattered clothes, she saw Kylo... injured and bleeding. She saw the clash of two lightsabers now, his red and the girl's blue. The scene shifted again, this time Anya saw Kylo, the girl, and Snoke. In a flash, she saw the girl's blue lightsaber, which was in Snoke's possession, ignite and sever Snoke completely in half, killing him. She saw a look between Kylo and the girl before the scene erupted into chaos and violence, and then darkness.

Anya found herself on the bridge of a Star Destroyer. Out of the window darkness, lightning, and a battle raged. A voice was familiar to her... her uncle. She saw him screaming and running towards the windows. The whole ship exploded. Anya could feel the blast, though she was not hurt. Her eyes opened and she lay in ash. Sitting up she looked around, the dead bodies of the Knights of Ren scattered around her. She leaped to her feet and began to run. She entered a large arena. She saw Kylo cradling the girl in his arms. The girl sat up and they held each other. She then saw the girl kiss him and they pulled each other close. It was a knife to Anya's heart.

Anya turned away from them and then saw herself . She was dressed in an all black dress with a red cloak. She was kneeling down, crying, clutching at a cloak... Kylo's cloak. Behind her stood a team of storm troopers. They stood amongst the wreckage of the Deathstar. Anya watched all the stormtroopers step towards her other self, she saw them draw their weapons, and she turned away as they executed her other self.

When Anya turned she was met face to face with her mother. Her mother looked exactly as she had remembered. Her mother held her baby brother on her hip, she was crying.

"Run away... run. Avoid all of this." Her mother said.

Anya shot up out of sleep. Her heart racing and her chest heaving for air. Had it been a dream.... or had it been a vision? A vision of her future. Kylo stirred in his sleep next to her, his eyes opened and he reached out to her.

"You're drenched in sweat." He said, his hands coming in contact with her skin.

"I... I was having a dream." She said.

"Is everything ok?"

"Ye... yeah. It's fine." She said, shrugging him away and getting up to go to the fresher. She closed and locked the door behind her and ran the faucet in the sink. Staring at herself in the mirror she came to a realization that broke her heart. This could only end one of two ways. With her dead at the hands of Snoke or Kylo, or her alone on some backwater planet heartbroken and in isolation.

Anya splashed her face with cold water and freshened up before exiting the fresher. Kylo was sitting up in bed, just staring at her. Anya walked over and climbed up on top of him. Gazing into his eyes, she made a decision.

"What would you do.... if tonight was the last time you ever saw me?" She asked, entwining her fingers with his.

"What? Why would you say that?"

"Just... hypothetically. Pretend."

"Oh... well... I'd love on you like my life depended on it."

"You should do that. Right now." She rubbed herself along his hardening length. He gladly obliged. His hands were in her hair, his mouth on almost every part of her body. He worked slowly, cherishing every square inch of her. He brought her to her first orgasm with his mouth. Slow and steady he lapped at her, twisting his fingers in and out until she squelched, clenched, and shook with ecstasy. He then lifted her up and lowered her onto his throbbing length. He used the force to hold her up while he kissed her, nibbled at her, and thrusted into her. Her walls tight around him in her post-orgasm glow. He firmly held her with one hand around her neck, her neck now dotted with purple and red bites and suck marks.

He squeezed his hand around her neck as he came hard into her. Her vision faded only briefly before he released his grasp, pleasure flooding her body. He reached down and rubbed at her over stimulated clit and brought her to a release again. Her body spent. Her muscles incapable of supporting her. If it were humanly possible, they would stay and continue for hours and hours, but their bodies were spent. The mighty Kylo Ren reduced to nothing more than a pile of jelly. Anya was totally out of breath, she was certain her legs wouldn't work for days and that the knot in her hair at the back of her head would never brush out. She cuddled up under his arm and buried her face into his chest, purposely inhaling his scent so that she could remember it forever.

***

Kylo did not stir as Anya snuck out of the bed. He did not shift as she dressed herself in her gown. His breathing did not shift even as she kissed him one last time. Anya snuck out of his rooms in the early predawn hours of the morning. She looked like a sight. Dressed in a gown that was now wrinkled and creased, her heels in her hands, her hair frizzed and messy, dark bite marks and bruises down both sides of her neck and tops of her breasts, and smudged eye makeup. She didn't care if anyone saw her, she wouldn't be seeing any of these people ever again.

She waited at the elevator, when the doors opened, inside stood Hux, himself looking out of sorts. His uniform was partially unbuttoned, the seam of one jacket sleeve torn, his hair was messed up, and he was swaying unsteady with an almost empty bottle of Coruscant Vodka in his hand. Anya stepped aside as he stumbled out of the elevator, using the wall to hold himself up. For a brief moment Anya did feel sorry. Sorry about everything. Hux said nothing to her as he stumbled down the hall towards his rooms.

When Anya returned to her room, she found that the door was partially opened, and sitting inside, both passed out on opposite sides of the couch was her uncle and her father. They stirred awake as she walked in, she rushed into her bedroom and locked the door behind her so that neither would see her in the state in which she was in.

She tore her gown off of her body, and dressed herself in a high collared, long sleeved, hooded, and loose fitting top and flowing pants. She washed the smudged makeup from her eyes and brushed her hair as best as she could, tying it up into a bun. When she exited her bedroom both men were awake, standing there, her father unable to keep her gaze.

"I will not be reenlisting, nor will I be returning to The Oasis. I need clearance to depart the planet now, and no one must know until I am gone." She softly said.

"Of course, dear." Her uncle said.

"Where will you go?" Her father asked. When Anya locked eyes with her father, she felt ashamed of herself. She felt as though she let him down, she knew she let him down.

"I don't know... somewhere no one will find me. I'll figure it out." She said looking down at her feet. Her father walked over to her and pulled her into an embrace.

She left alone on her ship in secret, taking nothing but the clothes on her back, the ring on her finger, and a gift of credits from her Uncle.

*********

PHEW...... 13577 words for this one!!!!! Like I mentioned before, I wanted to tell this portion of the story with a three part flashback. I really hope you have enjoyed so far. I have big plans for what comes next in the story, including interactions with Rey and Anya... which I know by now you probably realize that they will in fact meet. So stay tuned!!!!!!!


	7. Facing The Past

37 ABY- Present day, Sorgan

"Hey! Look." Finn said pointing to an security guard who was walking up the hill from the villa. The guard carried with him a blaster over his shoulder and wore an all brown uniform. He stopped at the base of the hill and waved for them to come down. Finn, Rey, Poe, and Chewy all eagerly made their way down the hill.

"Hello there!" the security guard said.

"Hi!" They all said.

"Just follow me." The guard said. They followed closely behind the guard as they approached the villa walls. The gates to the villa opened and inside they were met with lush gardens and the beautiful architecture that was the entirely stone villa. Something that was out of the ordinary on Sorgan since everything on the planet was mostly wooden huts and structures. They were brought to the front door of the villa where Moira stood to properly greet them.

"Come in, come in." she said, they followed her inside. The villa was decorated very softly. there were old paintings of flowers and animals on the walls, old fashioned oil lanterns, and floral arrangements everywhere. Moira brought them into a large room, clearly a formal sitting area or parlor. There was a large fireplace with a mantle over which hung a painting of a meadow. The open windows were tall, floor to ceiling, and the curtains flowed elegantly in the breeze. The couches, chairs, and rugs in the room were soft and plush. One far wall was just entirely made of bookshelves which housed ancient looking leather bound books.

"Mistress Anya will be in shortly, just stay in this room." Moira said, before leaving and closing the heavy wooden door to the room behind her.

"This does not strike me as the home of a former First Order Captain." Poe said, looking at the bowl of fresh fruit that sat on the wooden coffee table.

"Most of the first order captains I knew were soulless and probably slept on metal mattresses." Finn scoffed.

"This place is so peaceful and tranquil." Rey said, noting the soft aura that the entire estate left her feeling. From one of the open windows Rey could look out and see through the gardens down to the lake. For a few brief moments, Rey forgot why she was there, she was so lost in the peace and serenity of the place. Finn and Poe began to rummage through the room, looking at the spines of the books, inspect little knickknacks, and just be overall invasive. Chewy on the other hand, simply sat down on the couch, brining a pillow up to his nose, and sniffing it. He quickly placed the pillow down and stared out a window, lost in thought.

The door to the room opened, and Anya Harrow entered the room carrying a wooden tray with pastries, a teapot, and tea cups on it. Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing to look at her. Her blond hair was long, much longer than her First Order picture, and it was loose and flowing in waves down her back. She wore a flowy pink dress that was off of one shoulder, and around her waist tied a simple decorative chord. She had no makeup on, not that she needed it, she was exceptionally beautiful. Rey felt a twinge of jealousy. 'Why don't my eyelashes look like that?' Rey thought to herself.

Anya had seen the four of them enter through the Villa gate, and immediately her stomach soured. The memory of the vision she had before leaving the First Order played over in her head, it played because Anya was certain that the woman entering the villa was none other than the same woman she had seen with Kylo in the vision. 'So this is her?' Anya thought to herself.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting, I'm Anya." She said, placing the tray down on the coffee table. Trying not to stare too long at the woman.

"And I'm Poe Dameron." Poe, always a notorious flirt, jumped forward to shake her hand.

"Nice to meet you." She said with a sincere smile.

"These are my friends, Rey, Finn, and Chewbacca." Poe said, introducing the rest of the crew.

"It's very nice to meet all of you. Please." She said motioning for everyone to sit down. She sat down across from them all on a chair and offered everyone tea, which they all accepted.

"My maid Moira tells me you all are from the Resistance?" She said, a hint of nervousness in her voice.

"Yes. We are. We are conducting some basic investigations throughout the galaxy." Poe said.

"Yes... we are looking for surviving First Order leaders." Rey interjected.

"I have not been associated with the First Order for 3 years now. I was a low ranking captain on The Oasis, I'm sure I could be of no use to you." Anya defensively said.

"We are aware of your career history. Many of your former stormtroopers had very nice things to say about you. We were hoping to maybe interview you... we wish to learn more about First Order life." Poe smoothly said.

"Moira said two of you are Jedi. Anyone from the resistance could have come here to interview me.... but why send two jedi?" Anya said. Rey tried to analyze Anya, she tried to read her feelings but couldn't quite get a grasp. Anya was skilled at keeping herself calm, collected, and poised. A balanced energy radiated from her, and energy Reyhad never come across before.

"Surely you must have a guess as to why we are here. Your Stormtroopers have many things to say about you and..." Finn pressed. It was at that moment Rey felt a shift from Anya, a sense of annoyance. Finn hinting at a sore subject for her.

"If you're here to question me about any involvement I may or may not have had with either Kylo Ren or General Hux... I fully have the right not to answer you." She said.

"... Wait... Hux too!?" Finn said with a laugh, Rey hit him upside the head.

"If... if that is a sore subject... we wont ask. We just want to know about the operations of The Oasis and First Order life." Poe said, trying to smooth over the situation, he too could sense that Anya was getting annoyed.

"Very well... that, I can do." She said.

***

It was awkward at first, but they got through it. Poe started off with a series of basic questions. Some he had listed out on his Datapad, others he made up on the fly. She was asked about her childhood as a child growing up within The First Order, then she was asked about the operations of The Oasis. All of which she answered with ease and wit.

With each question, comfort grew between them all. Anya was answering each question freely, even throwing in personal details relevant to each question. She spoke about her father, and her uncle. After about an hour of questioning, Moira came into the room and whispered something into Anya's ear. Anya rose from her seat.

"I'm sorry, but I'm needed elsewhere. You're more than welcome to stay the night here. There is a guest cottage on the grounds. Dinner will be brought to you there. We can resume any questions tomorrow." She said before taking her leave. Moira then came in and motioned for them to all follow her. They were brought out of a door that lead from the room to the gardens and through the winding garden paths and some distance away from the villa to a small cottage.

"Make yourselves comfortable, but please do not go exploring up to the Villa without an escort." Moira said.

"An escort!?" Poe questioned.

"Like I once said, Mistress Anya values her security and privacy." Moira said before taking her leave.

"She's hiding something!" Finn said once Moira was out of earshot.

"Yeah... and we need to find out what it is." Poe said.

"What could it possibly be? She herself knows she is of little to no importance to our investigation. She answered all of our questions honestly thus far. I do agree... she is hiding something. I just have this feeling. Not to mention, there were at least 4 security guards that passed by the windows of the parlor while we sat there. Now we cant go anywhere without an escort?" Rey said.

"She mentioned Hux too... did she sleep with both of them!?" Finn asked.

"Stop that. The statements from the troopers were even questionable. We do however, need to know why Kylo Ren spent so much time at The Oasis a year before Starkiller was destroyed. She might know information she fears for her life about. Sometimes knowing too much can be dangerous." Poe said.

"We'll figure it out." Rey said.

***

The sun had set and the creatures of the night were singing their songs. A light breeze flowed through the upper windows of the villa, into the large suite of rooms belonging to Anya. Anya sat at her vanity, dressed in a long white nightgown and matching robe, her hair still wet from the bath she took. She braided her long hair and began to apply lotion to her hands, stoping to linger at her finger where the gold and ruby ring still sat.

"Do you need anything from me miss, before I go?" Moira said from Anya's open room door. Moira stood there with a basket of laundry on her hip.

"No Moira, that will be all, thank you." Anya replied. Anya expected Moira to leave, but instead she ended the room and sat the basket down on the ground before approaching her.

"Our guests seem very nice." Moira began.

"They do. I think I am beginning to like them." Anya said, daring not to avert her eyes to the old woman.

"Miss..." Moira began after a few moments of silence. Anya looked up at her, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. Three years. It had been three years and she still suffered as much today as she had when she left it all. She had lost everything, and gained, instead a heavy burden. Her father perished on Starkiller base, and her Uncle on Exegol. She had also heard the whisperings of what had happened to Kylo Ren, though she wasn't entirely sure.

"Oh miss!" Moira said empathetically, noting Anya's tears, taking Anya's hand in hers and rubbing her thumb over Anya's ring.

"I'm fine. Really."

"No miss. You are not fine. You have not been for a very long time. I should know, I was the first person to meet you when you came here. I have known you the longest." She said.

"I've been hiding in fear for three years, Moira. Now I have guests in my house questioning me about my past, my past I hoped to never have to face. They're going to ask me questions I just know my heart wont be able to bare." Anya cried.

"Now Miss. I never pressured you to tell me about your past, where you came from, how you got to be in this position. I made up my own stories in my mind. The moment I met you I knew three things that were certain about you. One, that you are a fine young woman, two, that you are full of love, and three... you are the strongest person this side of the galaxy." Moira said, pulling Anya into an embrace. Anya just began to cry. Cry because she never allowed herself to until now.

"There, there, let it all out. I truly believe they can help us, and that they can help you! You just need to let them in. You have nothing to fear anymore." Moira said.

"But I still fear. I fear everyday! What if they...?" Anya began, but Moira cut her off.

"The First Order is defeated, The Emperor is surely dead, both Supreme Leaders are dead, those who wished harm... they will not come. They are gone." Anya just began to sob harder, a mixture of an emotional release and heartbreak.

"Oh Moira.... if only you knew."

"Then tell me. Tell me so that you can practice telling them." Moira said. Anya composed herself , and told Moira everything.

***

Anya laid awake in her bed staring up at her canopy. It had felt good to tell Moira everything. Moira sat in silence for a few minutes allowing all the information to settle in, allowing for the realization of everything to also set in. Once Moira accepted it all, she pulled Anya into a warm hug.

"You are not the first to get tangled up in a mess like that, and you certainly wont be the last. I just glad you made it out of that mess, that you are here." Moira had said. Anya was glad too, she really was. She lay and thought about all that she had now, all that she had since been blessed with. Despite all that she had now, she couldn't help but let her mind wander back to her time at The Oasis:

_One night, Kylo had come back to The Oasis unannounced during station sleeping hours. Anya was asleep in her bed when he had arrived. He had arrived to her room silently. Somehow removing all of his clothes and sneaking into her bed. She was awoken by the sensation of a trail of kisses being left all over her back and shoulders._

_Her eyes fluttered open. There really was no better way to be woken up. His large hands firmly holding her, his hair and lips tickling at her skin. She rolled over to face him and gave him a sleepy smile and kiss._

_"Did you miss me?" She asked._

_"I always miss you when I'm away from you, even if you're just in the next room." He said causing her to giggle. He pushed her onto her back and hovered over her, pushing her legs apart with his hips and then leaning down to kiss her passionately. Anya was grateful she had chosen that very night to sleep in the nude. She could feel that he was already rock hard for her. She spread her legs wider and adjusted her hips so that his length could glide between her folds, rubbing her soft center. She let out a soft moan as he rubbed on her and took one of her nipples into his mouth._

_"It's been too long." He said from between her breasts. On that occasion it had been a long time since they were last together, five weeks to be exact._

_"Mmmm." was all Anya could say. Kylo didn't have to do much to elicit arousal from Anya, just from their time apart, his kisses, and light rubbing alone she was slick and ready for him. He pushed his way into her with ease, letting out a deep moan as he sheathed himself into her._

_"I'm... I'm sorry... but this isn't going to take long. It's been a long 5 weeks." He said._

_"I don't care." She ran her hands down his back and firmly gripped his ass and pushed him harder into her. Kylo thrusted slowly and rhythmically into her, kissing her all over and caressing her skin. Just as he said, it didn't take long before he unloaded a heavy and thick load into her. Before removing himself from her, he rubbed at her clit bringing her to a quick orgasm as well. Her soft moans filling the room, her legs locking around his waist, and her fingernails dug deep into his back._

_Using the force, he brought his undershirt to his hand, and before removing himself from her, he positioned his shirt under her to catch the exorbitant amount of cum that was sure to spill out. She always glowed after an orgasm. He loved to just stare at her as she came down form her high, watching her eyelashes flutter, and her breathing slow down._

_"Did you miss me?" He asked, pulling her to cradle her in his arms._

"I miss you so much." Anya whispered, snapping back to reality, staring back up at her canopy. It wasn't just the sex she so intensely missed. She just missed him in his entirety. They had an inexplicable connection she will never have with anyone else. Despite the reputation he had, and the reputation she later learned about after he became Supreme Leader, he alone was the only person who would ever be able to fill her heart and make her feel safe. Now all she had was memories of him.... and the secret she kept heavily guarded.

***

Chewy had been awfully quiet since their arrival at the Villa. He wasn't really a talkative type, but Finn and Poe started to notice that his demeanor was more reserved than usual. He sat in a chair that was way too small for him and stared out a window of the cottage the following morning after their arrival. He just sat there gazing into the garden.

"What do you think's wrong with him?" Poe whispered to Finn.

"No idea." Finn responded.

"What are you two staring at?" Rey said as she came out of one of the tiny bedrooms that the cottage had to offer.

"Chewy... he's acting strange." Finn whispered.

"You... uh... ok there buddy?" Poe said loudly catching Chewy's attention.

"Awreeeeg!" Chewy responded, pretty much saying 'I'm fine!'. It was then that there was a knock on the cottage door. It was Moira. Finn opened the door and Moira pushed in a cart holding their breakfast.

"Good morning! I hope you all slept well." Moira said. "Oh yes! Best sleep we've had in a long while." Rey said.

"Oh good. Well I brought you all breakfast. Mistress said she'd be happy to resume questions at noon. You're also more than welcome to venture down to the lake between now and then. No one should give you any trouble."

"Oh, that's good to know. We can go to the lake!" Poe sarcastically said. He truly had been the most annoyed at the fact that they had been confined to the cottage and that over night there had been a guard posted outside. Just as they all went to descend on their breakfast, Moira shut the door and began to look over her shoulder to make sure no one was in earshot.

"Now... listen. I know why you all are here now. Last night Mistress told me everything. I am going to leave it up to her to tell you her story. I have no right to divulge it. Now, I will give you this insight. If you intend to question her about any past relationships she had, I think it would be in everyone's best interests if she spoke privately about it in the company of ladies only. Mistress is a very proper lady, she would be very embarrassed to talk about those matters amongst men." Moira said, turning to look at Rey.

"Uhh.... yeah, no problem." Rey said.

"Thank you. I'll see you all later." Moira said before leaving. They all grabbed their portions of breakfast and sat scattered around the cottage, but within earshot of each other.

"How do I even go about asking about that!? What do I say? 'Oh hey, can you answer honestly whether or not you slept with Kylo Ren?'" Rey finally interjected.

"That's uhh... pretty much what you ask." Poe said.

"This is going to be so awkward." Rey said, shoving a biscuit in her mouth.

"Maybe you wont have to ask anything, maybe she'll just come out and say it and that can be that." Finn said.

"Well I personally have been looking forward to any juicy details. I knew the guy back when we were kids... so I'm curious. So I want all the details. Take thorough notes." Poe said.

"Ugh! If I had a brother I don't feel like I would want to know about his sex life, and that is what this feels like!" Rey said.

"Just take one for the team." Poe said.

"Moira said that Anya is a 'proper lady', so I doubt any details she shares will be too much." Finn said.

"Whatever..." Rey said.

***

Anya met them in her parlor once more exactly at noon. They had spent the morning walking the beach of the lake, Rey even collected shells. She and Finn even did some Saber practice on the shores of the lake. Poe continued taking the lead in asking questions. This time Anya went into detail specifically about her childhood in the First Order, what it was like, the philosophies that the First Order drilled into their heads.

"We were taught from a very early age that the Republic was corrupt, that the Jedi had been corrupt, and much more. We were only taught about their flaws and failures, nothing else. So we didn't know any better. We were then taught that The Resistance was just a terrorist organization seeking to cause chaos. For a very long time I believed it. That was until I took over command of The Oasis." Anya said.

"What changed your attitude?" Poe asked.

"I still believed that The First Order had the Galaxy's best interests in mind, in some ways I still do even today; but I could also see the flaws. Many in the upper ranks lacked humanity and empathy. My job at the Oasis was to render aid to anyone that needed it. So I got to talk to many travelers and refugees over the course of my tenure. I saw that many were scared, they didn't understand, and they had never been shown any kindness by anyone within the First Order. So I showed them that kindness. Part of me understood that there needed to be callousness in order to maintain control, but another part of me believed that showing kindness was the best way to win people over."

Anya went on to share various stories about various travelers and refugees she met during her time at The Oasis. It was fascinating to hear how she chose to treat them. She spoke with candor and honesty.

"Well... Anya... You are by far the most interesting person we have met so far." Poe said.

"Yeah totally." Finn said.

"I agree too." Rey said.

"Now... I know there are certain matters you previously said you might not want to talk about; but, you were correct in assuming that that was why we came. We do need to know." Poe said.

"I understand... and... I am ready to talk about it." She said, nervously twisting her hands in the fabric of her skirt.

"You don't have to talk about it with all of us here. If you'd feel more comfortable, it can just be you and I." Rey said. Over the course of hearing Anya talk about her time at The Oasis and the stories of various travelers, Rey began to respect Anya and even have a sense of compassion for her. Had it been under very different circumstances, Rey thought that she and Anya might even be friends.

"Before we go... I just have to know. Yes or no?" Poe said as he and Finn and Chewy got up to leave the room.

"Ignore him, he knew Be... I mean... Kylo Ren as a child." Rey said.

"The answer is Yes." Anya said with a nervous chuckle.

"Hux too!?" Finn interjected.

"FINN!!! BOTH OF YOU, OUT!" Rey shouted.

"Hux... Hell no." Anya said just as Chewy pushed Poe and Finn out of the room. For a few moments Anya and Rey sat in silence. Rey didn't really know where to begin.

"So.. are you and Finn a couple?" Anya asked.

"Yes... for about a year now." Rey said.

"You two are cute together."

"Thank you."

"You know... I've seen you before." Anya said.

"Have you?"

"Yes... it's probably why I'm here. Let's walk in the garden and I'll tell you everything." Anya said, standing up.

***

Anya and Rey walked in the garden together. Anya didn't really know how to start it all, but she just started from the beginning. Finn had been right, she didn't go into explicit detail, but did admit to an affair that lasted for the better part of a year. Rey just listened to Anya tell her story. The only explicit detail that Anya went into was about her dream the night she ran away, and then into more detail about the death of her mother and her encounter with Snoke. Rey was even surprised to know that Anya knew everything about Kylo, even about Ben Solo, and his past.

"Did you love him?" Rey asked.

"Yes... I did... I still do." Anya very solemnly said. Rey then began to tell Anya her story. She told her who she was, how she became connected to Kylo, and about the Dyad. It all began to make sense. The two women stopped in the garden and sat on a bench and looked out over the stone wall down to the lake. Both solemn and lost in their thoughts.

"I know you were scared of Snoke, and of Kylo coming to find you..." Rey began.

"I was never scared of Kylo... only Snoke." Anya corrected.

"But even after Snoke was killed, for a year we didn't know of the Emperor's existence, why did you not come out of hiding? Why do you still hide?" Rey asked. It was then that Moira appeared from around the corner.

"Whenever you're ready miss... down in the kitchen garden." Moira said to Anya.

"Thank you Moira." Anya said before turning back to Rey, "Come with me." She said.

***

They took a cobble stone path that winded around the villa towards the back where the kitchen was. Rey suddenly had a realization about everything, the hiding, the secrets. Rey knew in her gut. They rounded the corner and came to a gate that entered into the kitchen garden. A tiny walled garden. Anya opened the gate and let Rey in first. She heard it before she saw it. The giggles and the babbling.

Sitting with a kitchen maid at the step of the door to the kitchen sat a little girl of about two years of age. She had dark raven hair that fell in waves around her face, bright green eyes, and fists full of flowers.

"Mama!" The little girl babbled when she caught sight of Anya.

"Hello darling!" Anya said, kneeling down as the toddler bobbled her way over to her mother's arms. Rey was dumbfounded. Anya lifted the little girl up into her arms and balanced her on her hip.

"Can you say hi to our new friend? This is Miss Rey." The little girl acted shy and buried her face into Anya's neck, refusing to look at Rey.

"Hello. Nice to meet you." Rey said, choking back tears. This was Ben Solo's child, a little girl who was the perfect blend of Him and Anya.

"Can you tell Miss Rey your name?" Anya coaxed her daughter.

"Nora." The little girl said clear as day.

"It's very nice to meet you Nora." Rey said, a tear falling down her cheek.

"No cry! No sad!" Nora said, reaching out to Rey. Rey reached out to Nora and took her from Anya.

"She doesn't like to see people upset." Anya said with a chuckle.

"I'm not sad! I am very happy!" Rey said to Nora.

"Nora... can you show Miss Rey your trick?"

"You said, not allowed." Nora said with a grumpy look on her face.

"Well you can show Miss Rey, I'm giving you permission." Nora's grumpy face turned into a happy but mischievous one as she took the flower she held in her hand and used The Force to make it hover just in front of Rey.

"Now you know why I hide." Anya said to Rey.


	8. Staying Hidden

For a long while Rey, Anya, and Nora played in the garden. Nora was a huge bundle of energy. Running to and fro, picking all sorts of flowers, bundling them in her fists, and making little collections of them in piles all over the garden. She babbled and giggled and was just a little ball of happiness.

"She is the cutest baby I have ever seen." Rey said to Anya.

"She may be cute, but she will give you a run for your money if you give her the chance." Anya laughed.

"How old is she exactly?"

"Two... soon to be three. I realized I was pregnant with her three weeks after I left Courscant. I was still drifting around the galaxy then, trying to figure out where to go. I was here on Sorgan when I heard about the destruction of Starkiller base... as well as the death of my father." She somberly said.

"I'm so sorry."

"I like to think he would have been happy to be a grandfather. I imagine he would have made the best of the situation."

"And your Uncle?"

"As far as I knew... he never knew about Nora. He never even knew I settled here. I spoke with him once after Starkiller, I went to another nearby planet and sent an encrypted call to his personal communicator. He didn't ask me any questions, he told me that it was probably dangerous for him to know anything about my whereabouts. Kylo had just become Supreme Leader. He arranged for me to secretly receive my First Order Pension as well as my father's estate credits. That was the last I heard from him."

"Kylo Ren made Pryde the Allegiant General... over Hux." Rey said.

"I did hear about that. My uncle did have respect for Kylo, and Kylo respected my uncle. I honestly don't know what happened after I left. I don't know how Kylo reacted or if he even reacted." Anya said.

"Mama! Look!" Nora called out from among the rows of herbs in the garden.

"I'm looking!" Anya said, looking to Nora who had a blue butterfly balancing on her little finger. Both Rey and Anya smiled at little Nora who was just so happy to have the butterfly delicately sitting in her hand.

"Even when you knew you were pregnant... you not once wanted to reach back out to him?" Rey asked.

"I did. On several occasions I got close too. I just wanted a different life for Nora. I knew how hard it was for Kylo growing up, he told me it all. All about his parents, his uncle, the jedi temple, Snoke... all of it. I remembered how difficult it was myself growing up, living life mostly on a ship, forced to go to rigorous and militant academies and schools, my mother killing herself. I wanted something different for Nora. I wanted her to have gardens, and flowers, and butterflies, and sunshine; things neither of her parents got to have. Most of all, though, I didn't want her to get dragged in to being forced to 'choose a side'... Light or Dark. I just want her to grow up to be her own person."

"I can appreciate that. I really can." Rey said, reflecting on the sacrifices her own parents had to make and her own difficult childhood. Anya made the difficult decision to stay hidden out of pure motherly love for her child... as much as the decision broke her own heart.

***

Rey made her way back to the cottage with a smile on her face. As she entered the cottage, however, she realized she was going to have to come face to face with Finn, Poe, and Chewy. How would they react to Nora? Would they be happy? Would they be concerned?

"So.... details.... details... I want details." Poe said immediately as Rey entered the house.

"Will you give me a second to get in the door!" Rey snapped. She brushed past Chewy who inhaled sharply.

"Awreeg!" Chewy said. Rey turned to Chewy and suddenly realized the root cause of his strange behavior since their arrival. Chewy of course was the only one of them who probably knew about Nora from the moment they walked through the doors. The toddler's scent was everywhere, and now it was all over Rey who had spent the better part of two hours playing with her. Rey's face softened and she looked at Chewy with compassionate eyes. Chewbacca had been Han Solo's oldest best friend. He had been there when he saw his best friend get married. He was there when Ben Solo was born. He himself spent many hours soothing an infant Ben to sleep, taught him how to fly, watched him grow up, watched him break his heart.

"Oh Chewy..." Rey softly said. The Wookie just shook his head and looked down at his feet.

"Alright... everyone...you're going to want to sit down for this one." Rey said.

***

Rey stood in the middle of the room nervously as all three guys stared out into space. Chewy actually perked up a bit, Finn just looked out the window with a confused look on his face, and Poe held his face in his hands. Rey nervously waited for them to say something, anything. She had just told them Anya's story, and the existence of Nora.

"So there's a little force sensitive toddler running around that literally is the spawn of one the Galaxy's worst tyrants?" Poe said.

"Watch it. I'm also the spawn of a tyrant... technically." Rey said, noting Poe's tone.

"So what do we do?" Finn asked.

"What do you mean? We don't need to do anything. She's two!"

"The new Republic needs to know about this." Poe said.

"Why!? She's a toddler!"

"What if that toddler grows up and decides 'oh hey, I want to rule the galaxy.'? What do we do then?" Poe pushed back.

"That easily could be said about any of us in this room! She's two!" Rey said, feeling her blood pressure rise.

"Awureeeeg!!!!!!!" Chewy loudly interjected, standing up and his seat falling backwards. The Wookiee stomped out of the cottage and bounded his way away from the rest of them.

"Chewy wait!" Rey called after him, but he was already out of sight. Rey tried to keep up as the Wookiee marched his way around the villa towards the kitchen gardens where Anya and Nora were still sitting. Chewy stopped at the garden gate and just stared into the Garden at the toddler. Chewy silently watched as Nora skipped and babbled around the garden. Anya hadn't yet noticed they were there, she was sitting down on a blanket in the shade of a tree reading a book. Finn and Poe also eventually turned up and they too stopped to just look into the garden. Now, Nora was loudly singing a children's song to herself. Anya looked up and saw the four of them standing there, and she smiled.

"Nora look, Miss Rey brought her friends." Anya said to Nora. Nora spun around and looked over at the gate, her eyes widening and letting out an audible gasp at the sight of Chewbacca. Immediately Nora got shy again and ran straight to her mother, wrapping her arms around her neck and burying her face in her hair.

"Come on in." Anya said, standing up and holding the toddler in her arms.

"Hey, how's it going." Poe nervously said.

"Nora... can you say hi to our friends?" Anya coaxed her daughter. Nora shyly looked over at them and gave a little wave.

"Well I'll be damned." Poe said, putting his hands on his hips. Chewy stepped forward and held his arms out to Nora.

"Do you want to say hello? This is Chewy. He's very nice." Anya whispered to Nora. Nora nervously let go of her mother and reached out to Chewbacca who eagerly scooped her up in his arms. Nora was adorable. Looking over the Wookiee, pinching and running her little hands through is fur. She wasn't sure at first, but then she gave a toothy smile and a giggle before hugging the Wookiee. Chewbacca just about melted, hugging the toddler back and squeezing her tight.

"Chewbacca was very close to Ben. A family member practically." Rey said to Anya.

"I see." Anya said, putting her hand on her chest, emotions filling her. Who knew that the Wookiee would be the closest thing Nora had to paternal family?

"She's... pretty cute." Finn said.

"Thank you." Anya said.

"So this is what you've been hiding?" Poe asked.

"Yes... and I'd like to keep it that way, thank you very much." Anya sternly said.

"Poe... we'll talk about this later." Rey cautioned.

"No... we talk about this now. You've been hiding the child of one of the galaxy's worst tyrants, and you think you can just keep that a secret!?" Poe said to Anya. His tone and words stinging Anya.

"Yes... yes I do. I could have very well continued to keep Nora a secret, but I chose to tell you, to tell Rey. My child shouldn't have to be burdened with the sins of her father... whom she doesn't know about, by the way." Anya said, looking over her shoulder to make sure Chewy and Nora were out of earshot.

"Well then what do you expect us to do with this information?" Poe said crossing his arms.

"Nothing. It's my hope that Nora can grow up and choose her own path, and if that path includes learning more about her abilities, then I can only hope that people like Rey and Finn can help her learn. It also happens to be very difficult at times raising a child who can hurl her toys at you with her mind when she's having a tantrum!" Finn chuckled at the thought of the tiny little girl throwing a typical toddler tantrum, but throwing little wooden blocks across the room with the force.

"Poe..." Rey reached out to him. Poe could be very narrow minded and hot headed at times. He wasn't exactly thinking clearly. He was solely thinking back on all the atrocities Kylo Ren committed, unfairly associating them to Nora, already deciding a path for her.

"Fine... we'll be keeping a watch on you." Poe said before storming off.

"I'm sorry." Rey said, putting her hand on Anya's shoulder.

"It's fine. I expected nothing else." Anya said, wrapping her arms around herself. In the distance, Nora could be heard giggling and playing with Chewy, and Finn who had joined them.

***

Anya had a strict night time routine with Nora. Every night after dinner, Anya would carry Nora up stairs and draw a bubble bath for her. Nora was splashing around and play in the water for a bit before Anya would bathe her and sing to her. After, Anya would wrap Nora in a towel, dress her in pajamas, and lay her in her bed before reading her a bedtime story. The routine was simple, average even, probably the vast majority of mothers across the galaxy did the same for their children.

As Nora drifted off to sleep, Anya couldn't help but stare at her. With her face relaxed and her raven hair flowing around her face, she looked just like her father. She even slept like him too. Rolling over on to her belly and tucking her arms up under her. It was so fascinating to Anya to watch the those little things come out in her daughter. Glimpses of the man that she loved, the man that her daughter would never know. Anya leaned down and kissed Nora goodnight before leaving the room and shutting the door behind her.

Back in her own room, Anya bathed herself, dressed in a night gown, and sat at her vanity to braid her hair and apply lotion. Her fingers lingering on her left hand, toying with the ring on her finger. She did feel better telling Rey everything, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted of her shoulders. Tonight, instead of feeling sadness, she felt... nostalgic... in a good way. Sometimes Anya would try and think about which day was the day Nora was conceived on. There were only two possibilities: the night of the ball, or earlier in the week, a day after her arrival on Coruscant.........

_Anya had told her father, uncle... and Hux that she would be spending the afternoon at a spa. It wasn't entirely a lie, she did in fact go and get a haircut and a manicure and pedicure, what she left out was that it wasn't in fact an all day affair that she led them to believe. She just had hoped for some time to herself. When she arrived back to her room, she found the lights dimmed, candles lit, and a trail of rose petals leading from the door to the large bathroom. Anya felt her heart skip a beat, butterflies in her stomach, and a giddiness only Kylo could evoke from her._

_Kylo was kneeling by the bathtub, filling it with steaming hot water and an assortment of fragrant oils. He was barefoot and shirtless and had not noticed her arrival._

_"What's all this?" Anya softly asked, entering the bathroom slowly._

_"You're back early!" He said getting up and crossing the room, pulling her into an embrace._

_"My hair didn't take as long as I thought."_

_"Let me see." He said, she took a step back and turned around slowly. She didn't have much done to it, it was only a trim and new layers done to make it look more fuller._

_"I like it."_

_"Good, I'm glad." She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed the center of his chest. "So what's all this for?" She asked._

_"I have some... not so good news."_

_"Oh?" Her heard sinking down into her stomach._

_"The Supreme Leader has decided to attend the ball this year, so I don't know if I'll get to see you any other time this week. I'll be needed at his side the majority of the time."_

_"Well... let's make the most of it, but you have to promise me one thing."_

_"What's that?"_

_"You can't leave any marks on me, I have breakfast with my father and uncle tomorrow morning." She giggled, playfully lifting her arms above her head cueing to him to start undressing her. He chuckled and gently lifted her blouse off over her head and then began to work at her pants, pulling them down around her ankles. She kicked them off and then brought her hands to his pants, fumbling with the button and zipper before pulling both his pants and underwear down, freeing his chubbed cock. She eagerly anticipated for him to touch her. For some unexplained reason, today she was just randomly horny, almost like she was a teenager all over again._

_He led her to the bathtub and got in first, she got in after him, sitting between his legs, her back pressed against his chest. He brought his hands in front of her and took a breast in each hand, pressing her closer to him._

_"Mmmm." She moaned, closing her eyes and relaxing her whole body into his._

_"Stressed much?"_

_"A bit... I've also been stupidly horny all freaking day."_

_"Well... I think I can remedy that." He crooned into her ear before placing a slow, hot kiss on her neck just below her ear._

_"Please do." She moaned, tossing her head back allowing him more access to her neck. He dragged his nose up and down the side of her neck, occasionally leaving a soft kiss. With one hand he kept one breast firmly grasped, with the other he dipped it below the water's surface, stoking her leg up and down before moving to the inside of her thigh, moving slowly upwards towards her folds. He teased her several times, getting his hand just close enough that she thought he was going to touch her there, but quickly moving his hand away leaving her disappointed._

_She rolled her hips, rubbing his now fully hardened length against her back, eliciting a moan from him. He went to buck back against her to rub himself along her back, but she pulled away._

_"Hey!" He said._

_"Tease me one more time. See what happens."_

_"Ohhh... BET." He said, forcefully pulling her back to him, moving his one hand down to her core, but instead of giving her any gratification, he cupped his hand around the middle there and applied only pressure, keeping her frame fully against his as he rubbed himself against her back._

_"Are you feeling a bit bratty today?" He growled into her ear._

_"Yes!" She breathlessly said, annoyed that his hands were at all her right places but giving her no satisfaction._

_"And what are you going to do about it?" She said nothing in reply, only reaching up with her hand and aggressively pulling his hair, lurching his head back. It caught him off guard, he released his hold on her. Swiftly she turned in the water, straddling him, positioning his length between her folds and beginning her slow paced grind against him, all while keeping his hair taught in her hand. He was always the one to toss her around and leave marks all over her, not this time._

_Anya brought her mouth to his neck and bit down. He let out a surprised yelp before Anya kissed and sucked away the pain. She left at least 5 purple welts on his neck, all while slowly grinding on him. Kylo kept his hands on the edge of the tub, gripping the tub tightly, using every ounce of his self control to not just grab her, push her under the water and have his way with her. No, today he was feeling generous, he would let her do whatever she wanted, for once._

_She kept her rhythmic pace, her hands on his shoulders now, kissing him softly. He let go of the edge of the tub and brought his hands to her hips and held her close. The water sloshed back and forth and the sounds of her soft whimpers and moans echoed through the tiled room. Her breathing became uneven and he knew she was close to her climax. She always closed her eyes and her lips were always slightly parted. He just sat in the tub and watched her, she was so damn beautiful. Her blond hair in soft waves with the ends a little wet from the bath, her curled eyelashes, and plump lips._

_He felt her body begin to shutter as she crested her peak and he leaned forward and locked his mouth with hers. She moaned into his mouth as she came and he held her close as she rode her waves of ecstasy. She pulled away and her eyelashes fluttered open and a flush of pink appeared down her neck and across her chest. She always turned pink after she came, he chuckled._

_"What?" She said breathlessly._

_"Did you know you always turn pink after you cum?"_

_"No?" She said looking down at her flushed breasts._

_"It's cute."_

_"Oh well." She said with a laugh. He caught her mouth again for another kiss, and then another one, and then another one. Reaching behind her, he grabbed the bar of soap and began to lather up._

_"You don't want...?" She began._

_"I have plans for you in the bedroom." He said, taking a handful of suds and flicking them onto her breasts. After he washed himself he turned to her and gently scrubbed her down, massaging her back and neck as he went. They rinsed off and exited the tub and he wrapped her up in a large fluffy towel, trapping her arms in it. Effortlessly he picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder and brought her out to the bedroom and tossed her on to the bed, the towel opening leaving her damp skin exposed to the cooler air._

_It was still daylight out, and Coruscant sun beamed through the hotel windows, illuminating the room, dancing off of Anya's soft smooth skin and water droplets that lingered. He originally had plans for her, but she was too damn intoxicating to him, any and all ideas he had of what he wanted to do to her dropped from his mind. Taking both her wrists, he pinned her arms high above her head with one hand. He hovered over her and positioned his hips between hers and with one fluid thrust he pushed into her, her walls slick, wet, tight, and still very sensitive from her time in the tub. He pounded into her, a few times a bit rougher than he intended, but she enjoyed it nonetheless._

_When he came, she could feel him filling her up, it hurt for just a moment as he shot at her cervix, but she felt warm, safe and satisfied. All stress she had been carrying that day melted away, and she felt euphoric, bubbly, and at peace. He pulled her close, careful to make sure that the towel caught their mess, and he kissed her all over her face and chest._

***

It was decided that Rey, Finn, Poe, and Chewy were going to return to Naboo that afternoon. Chewy spent the entire morning playing with Nora, chasing her around the gardens, letting her climb all over him, and carrying her high up on his shoulders. Poe still wasn't too impressed, but the toddler wore away at him, causing him to chuckle a few times. Finn stood with his arm around Rey as they watched Chewy play another game of peekaboo with Nora.

"We should have one." Finn said.

"One what?" Rey responded.

"A kid."

"What!? Are you crazy???" She said jumping away from him.

"I think having a little person around would be a ton of fun. It would be an adventure."

"We don't even have a real home... we either live on The Falcon, or in a communal with other Resistance members."

"I've been thinking about that too. Things are settling down, we really aren't needed in a huge capacity anymore, we should get a place. Just you and me."

"Where are you thinking?"

"We could stay on Naboo, find a country cottage somewhere, something small."

"That does sound nice." Rey said, reflecting on how peaceful it had been out in the rural areas of Sorgan surrounded by nature.

"When we get back, we'll go look at places." He said, putting his arm back around her and kissing the top of her head. Anya was standing at the top of the stairs that led down to the garden. From her position she could see Chewbacca playin with Nora, Rey and Finn sharing a moment, and grumpy Poe sulking on the bottom step. Descending the steps, Anya stopped at Poe.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Anya asked.

"Nope." He shot back.

"If you're worried about the Galaxy's future just because a child was born two years ago, you're going to be wasting a lot of mental energy."

"How can you ensure history wont repeat itself?" Poe said standing up.

"I cant; but what I can do is learn from it. Nora will have a very different childhood than that of her father and grandfather. I can only hope that that makes all the difference." Anya said. Poe shamefully looked down at his feet. He felt stupid for feeling such strong emotions of negativity towards an innocent child. Anya was right, no one could be certain what the future would hold. They could only hope that by doing things differently, there will be a much different outcome.

Anya walked towards Finn and Rey, she almost didn't want to interrupt them, they looked like they were having a sweet moment. Anya's eyes shifted from the couple to Chewy and Nora. In the one day of them knowing each other they had become the best of friends. Nora's giggles echoed throughout the whole space.

"Oh hey!" Rey said, noticing Anya standing nearby.

"I didn't mean to interrupt." Anya said.

"Oh no. You're fine." Finn said.

"I wanted to give you two something before you left." Anya said, handing over three old books.

"Oh... thank you." Rey said, taking them from her.

"When I found out I was pregnant with Nora, I realized I would have to teach myself whatever I could about The Force. So... I started collected various texts and books. Those aren't Jedi texts, but they are folk tales and myths about force users." Anya bashfully said.

"Thank you Anya, I hope we can be friends." Rey said as she looked over the books.

"I hope so too. You all can come visit whenever you want. Especially Chewy, I don't think Nora is going to be very pleased to hear that you all are leaving." Anya replied with a genuine happy smile. Finn broke away from Rey and went down to tell Chewy that it was time to go. Chewy looked sad, but he picked up Nora and carried her up to Anya.

"Nora, our friends have to leave and go home." Anya said, reaching out to her daughter.

"No! Choo-Choo stay!" Nora said burying her face into Chewy's fur.

"I know darling, but they have to go home. THey'll be back to visit, I promise." Anya said. Chewy lowered Nora into Anya's arms, but Nora maintained a firm grip around Chewy's neck.

"No!"

"One!" Anya sternly said, beginning a count down that all adults knew very well from their childhood. Bitterly, Nora let go of Chewy and went to her mother. The little girl started to pout and tears welled up in her eyes.

"They'll be back, I promise! Chewy can come back whenever he wants." Anya said looking up at the Wookiee. Sadly, Chewy nodded and pet Nora on her head.

"Bye bye Nora!" Rey said, but Nora was not having it, burying her face in Anya's hair and refusing to look at anyone.

"Bye Nora." Finn said, but no change.

"Bye kid." Poe said, to Poe's voice Nora looked up and gave him a little smile before hiding her face again.

"Ok, I guess she's cute." Poe said. With Nora balanced on one hip, Anya hugged everyone goodbye, reiterating her invitation that they visit anytime they wanted... for Nora's sake.

"Oh... and I hope it goes without saying; I want Nora to stay a secret from the New Republic, at least until she's much older." Anya said as they all walked to the villa gate.

"Of course." Rey said. Rey and Anya exchanged modes of communication between each other so they could keep up, and from the Villa Gate, Anya and Nora watched the group leave. Before they disappeared over the hill, Chewbacca looked back and let out a roar and a wave to little Nora.


	9. Visions

A shrill cry from Nora's nursery startled Anya awake. Quickly, Anya flew out of her bed and ran out of her bedroom and down the hall to Nora's nursery. Nora was sitting up in her bed, crying, tears streaming down her face, and she was clutching her baby blanket. Anya's racing heart slowed when she saw that no physical harm was wrong with Nora.

"Oh darling, what's wrong?" Anya said as she crossed the room and sat down on Nora's little bed. Nora was clearly still very sleepy, she just climbed up on to Anya's lap and buried her face in Anya's chest.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Anya softly said, to which Nora shook her head yes. There really wasn't reasoning or having a deep conversation with a toddler, so Anya curled up on Nora's tiny toddler bed and soothed the child until she fell back asleep. Once Nora was sound asleep again, Anya crept back to her room.

***

The day's went on as they always had. Slow paced and quiet, just how Anya liked her life now. Anya worked out in the garden, tending to the crops that would keep them fed during the rainy cold season on Sorgan. Anya stopped her work for a moment to look over at Nora who was playing nearby.

"Hello!" Nora said to nothing.

"You there?" Nora said, looking now into a nearby bush. Anya watched the unusual sight of her daughter looking for something.

"Nora, what are you looking for?" Anya said, dusting off her dirty hands on the apron around her waist.

"The man." Nora said.

"What man?"

"The lost man! He's stuck!" Nora said. Anya brushed it aside, Nora was two, it was normal for her to have an active imagination... but then again, something unsettling nagged at the back of Anya's mind. Nora's behavior of looking for "the lost man" continued for days. She would go around lifting up books, pillows, rocks, looking under furniture, all sorts of things. Constantly looking for "the lost man.".

"Moira.... have you noticed Nora looking for a lost man?" Anya asked one day while the two women worked in the kitchen.

"Yes, constantly. She probably has an imaginary friend, it's normal at her age. My niece had an imaginary friend named Bobo, he was described as a lizard that sang songs. It's quite cute."

"I'm not so sure...." Anya said, watching her daughter stick her head under the sink in their kitchen and call out for the lost man again.

***

For the third night now in a row, Rey was thrown from her sleep, the voice of Ben Solo waking her. This time, Rey inadvertently woke Finn. Finn mumbled and grumbled and turned around to look at Rey who was breathing heavily and had her eyes wide.

"Woah.... are you ok?" Finn asked.

"Yeah... I had another one of those dreams."

"Is it the same as the other two?" Finn asked, putting a protective arm around her.

"Exactly the same. It's like I'm sleeping, I don't see anything, but I hear. All I hear is 'I'm stuck!!! You have to get me out!'. And it's just repeated over and over again, and in my mind I try to look, but there's nothing there." Rey said.

"I've been having weird dreams too, now that I've been really thinking about it." Finn said.

"What are yours?"

"They never wake me up for some reason. But... we are always back on Exegol. Nothing is happening... we are just walking around, like we are looking for something, but we never find it." Finn said.

"It all has to mean something." Rey said, putting her head in her hands.

"We'll figure it out... together." He said pulling her onto his chest.

***

Anya was carrying a basket of laundry on her hip, she was making her way through the house gathering things that needed to be laundered. Nora could be heard babbling away in the other room talking to herself and playing with her toys. Anya went to pass the doorway that led into the room Nora was in, Anya glanced into the room and for the briefest moment saw what appeared to be a woman in white kneeling down in front of Nora. Nora appeared to also see the woman and was talking to her. The brief sight startled Anya to the point that she gasped and dropped the basket to the floor and looked back into the room, but all she saw was the sunlight streaming in through the sheer white curtains. Surely it had to have been some sort of illusion or tick of the eye.

"Bye bye." Nora said, waving towards the exact spot where Anya had thought she'd seen someone. A tightness grew in Anya's throat and an unsettled feeling crept back into her. Anya entered the room and scooped Nora up and held her close.

"Who's gone bye bye?" Anya asked.

"The lady."

"The lady? What lady?"

"The lady looking for the lost man." Anya's heart dropped to her stomach."Moira!!!!! Moira!!!!" Anya called out. Moira appeared in the doorway within a matter of minutes.

"Yes! What's wrong?" Moira said, hearing the distress on Anya's voice.

"Nora isn't to be left alone. Not even for a moment. Please stay with her, I need to make a call." Anya said, putting Nora into Moira's arms. Anya left the room and went up to her bedroom to call Rey on her communicator. Anya's hands shook and she had broken out into a cold sweat. She could feel her pulse in her throat. For a moment, Anya broke down, her mind wandering to her worst fears. What if this was it? what if something or someone had come to torment her daughter? What if something invisible Anya had no power to protect Nora from had come? Anya sobbed softly into her hand, and before she could make the call to Rey, her communicator rang.

"He...hello?" Anya's voice shook.

"Anya? It's me... Rey. What's wrong. I just felt like I needed to call you." Rey said from the other end.

"Oh Rey... I don't even know." Anya said.

"Tell me." Rey said. Anya told Rey everything, all the weird things Nora had started doing, the fact that she was looking for a "lost man", and the events of that very afternoon seeing a woman in white. Anya cried the whole time as she told Rey, fear clearly heard in her voice.

"It's ok. It's ok. I'm coming out today, I'll be there to you this evening. We'll get to the bottom of this." Rey said, calming Anya instantly.

***

As promised, Rey arrived that very evening, with Finn and Chewy in tow. It was after dinner time, and Anya had sent all the maids home and locked down the entire villa. Only she, Moira, and Nora were inside, with extra security patrolling the walls. Anya sat on the couch with a sleeping Nora on her chest. Anya barely put Nora down since the events of that afternoon. Anya was distraught, and she had good reason to be. Moira did her best to keep her mistress calm, bringing her tea and snacks, encouraging Anya to breathe and remain calm.

Rey, Finn, and Chewy entered the room and saw Anya clutching Nora close. Poor Nora. She had no clue that anything was a miss. Chewy walked over and gently took Nora from Anya and sat down in a nearby chair. Nora didn't even stir, she just nestled into his furry arms and continued to sleep. Rey and Finn both went over to Anya and sat on either side of her.

"Describe to me exactly what happened, as much as you can." Rey softly said to Anya. Anya began again and reiterated what had happened. Moira too piped up and described a few instances of things Nora had done over the last few days. Rey and Finn also shared the dreams that they had been having. Everything sounded so similar, like it was all connected, and it most certainly was.

"Miss..." Moira said, coming over to Anya and handing her a piece of paper.

"I found it in Nora's toy pile with her drawing things." Moria said. On the piece of paper was a childish drawing, drawn only in blue and black. It was rough and rudimentary, but the image was clear. It was the image of a man dressed in black on a blue background. Oddly enough the drawing looked like it was a depiction of Kylo... Ben. Both Rey and Anya gasped when they saw it.

"The lost man." Anya said, tracing her fingers over the surface of the drawing.

"Could he be trying to call out to her though The Force?" Finn asked.

"I don't know. He hasn't called out to me since Exegol, and I've tried to reach out." Rey said.

"It doesn't explain the woman in white." Anya said.

"I think I have an idea as to who the woman in white is. I just need time to make contact with that."

"Who is it? Is Nora in danger?" Anya asked.

"No. If it's who I think it is, it's quite the opposite." Rey said with a reassuring smile.

"It's getting late, you all need to go to bed. I made sure the guest rooms upstairs are ready for you all." Moira said. They all agreed, Anya took Nora from Chewy. Finn and Rey were given their own room, as was Chewy. Anya took Nora into her room and tucked her into bed with her, still refusing to leave Nora alone even for a moment.

***

Anya felt a cool breeze on her face. She could see the clear blue sky filled with white puffy clouds. She could hear birds singing and bees buzzing. She was laying on a blanket surrounded by tall grass. Anya rolled to the side and felt a heaviness to herself that she had not felt in a while. She looked down at herself and saw a rounded belly. Surely, this was a memory from when she was pregnant with Nora. Anya sat up and saw that she was laying in the meadow near the villa and down by the lake. She was alone, but then, in the distance, she saw a figure. The figure was clad entirely in black. She knew exactly who it was, even with his back turned to her. Anya ran towards him, and just as she reached out to turn him to face her, the dream crumbled.

Anya now stood in the dark blue haze of a space she somewhat recognized, but had never been to before. She looked down at her stomach, now empty and flat. When she looked up she saw a jagged and menacing looking throne, and standing in front of it was a sinister figure. His eyes bright yellow and glowing. His mouth opened and the most evil of laughs came out of it. Anya squeezed her eyes closed. The laugh fading from her mind, replaced with a soft whisper... a voice she knew well, a voice she longed to hear at least one more time.

"Anya... Anya...where are you? You left me."

Anya awoke with a startle, tears streaming down her face. Anya looked around the room and saw that Nora was awake, sitting up in bed with her, looking at her.

"No cry Mama, no cry." Nora said in her sweet baby voice.

"I'm ok. Mama had a bad dream." Anya said, opening up her arms to Nora. Nora cuddled up with Anya and the two tried to go back to sleep.

***

Rey woke early and went down to the beach to try and meditate. She sat in her meditation stance, her eyes closed, and her breathing regulated. The early morning sunshine hitting her and warming her as she tried to deeply connect with the force.

"Be with me. Be with me." She said. The last time she saw Luke or Leia thorough the force was when she was on Tatooine; despite her trying to reach out multiple times. It was no use, Rey once again struggled to find the connection.

Rey flopped down and looked behind her to see Anya, Chewy, and Nora walking towards her. Nora was bubbling with happiness to be reunited with her "Choochoo", she called him. Rey's eyes went to Anya, Anya was dressed in a simplistic flowing dress, her hair was tied half up and half down, but she looked exhausted, as if she didn't get enough sleep.

"Did you sleep well?" Anya asked Rey.

"I did. You?"

"I had a dream this time." Anya said, sitting down in the sand next to her. They watched for a brief moment as Chewy put Nora down near the shore line and watched the two of them play around in the sand.

"I'm sorry. We'll get to the bottom of this." Rey said.

"Have you had any luck meditating?" Anya asked.

"No... I'm having trouble connecting to the force in the way I need to to find answers." Rey said. The two sat in silence for a few moments, watching Chewy and Nora play.

"Does it matter where you meditate? Like, do you have a better connection in some places over others?" Anya asked.

"Sometimes."

"There are these ruins... on the far side of the planet. Some say they are an ancient jedi temple. We could go there, you could try there." Anya said.

"Yes! We could!" Rey enthusiastically said.

"I'll need to tell Moira and make sure Nora will be ok."

"Chewy and Finn can stay with Nora. I'll make them babysit." Rey said with a chuckle.

Anya looked out at Chewy and Nora. Although she barely knew the Wookiee, she felt she could trust him whole heartedly with Nora. He was so attentive to her, very cautious, and she adored him. It was also clear that he adored her. Anya's heart and anxiety level began to calm as she reminded herself that things were different, they were going to be different. Nora was not in danger, despite her own fears. Something else was at work, and they were all going to work together to figure it out.


	10. Ruins

For the first time in probably.... years... Anya was going to be leaving the Villa for more than an hour. Normally she would sometimes go into the nearby village when she was feeling like it, but that was it. Anya dressed herself in form fitting tan pants, brown boots, and a tan tank top. Moira was actually quite thrilled to hear that Anya was taking a day trip with Rey, even if it was only a few hours.

"This will be good for you! I just know it! You don't worry about a thing. I'll watch over Nora and I'm sure these boys wont let a darn thing happen to her." Moira said, motioning to Chewy and Finn who were now fully at Nora's disposal. Anya went over to Nora who was in Chewy's arms (no surprise there).

"You be good. I'll be back ok?" Anya said before kissing Nora on the cheek.

"Finn... your lightsaber is not an age appropriate toy for a toddler." Rey cautioned Finn.

"I know that! I'm not an idiot!" Finn said.

"I know... but it must be said." Rey said with a giggle before kissing him goodbye.

"We'll be back before dinner. We'll keep in contact." Anya said, turning towards the large wooden structure that housed her ship.

Her ship. The last time she flew it was when she arrived on Sorgan. Despite years of disuse, it still fired up like a charm. There was some dust and some cobwebs, but it was no issue.

"Try and be patient with me. It's been a while." Anya said as she took the controls and Rey sat in the copilot's chair.

"You'll have no judgement from me." Rey said, putting her hands up. Anya maneuvered the vessel out of its housing and they took off on a low altitude flight to the far side of the planet.

"It's about a 2 hour flight." Anya said as she yawned.

"You look like you didn't get much sleep. If the coordinates are in, I can watch the controls on auto pilot." Rey said.

"Oh, that would be great." Nia said, standing up and walking towards the back of the ship. Her ship was small, but at least it had a small bunk in the back. Anya ducked her head and crawled into the bunk. She laid on her back and looked up at the lowered ceiling of the bunk and saw a distinct scuff in the metal, she couldn't help but smile as it brought back a fond memory....

It was still early on in their relationship, Kylo had come back to the station and was ready to go explore one of the planets, taking Anya with him. They took her ship and made their way out into The Void. It was going to be a four hour flight to the planet they were going to search. Anya had been sitting in the copilot's chair with her legs tucked up under her. She and Kylo had gotten used to each other. She knew not to ask him prying questions. Although it sometimes drove her crazy that he was often lost in thought and emotionless, she knew that patience and perseverance was key when it came to dealing with him.

Kylo had grown to enjoy her presence. Her calmness and steadiness was like a tonic to him. She was steady, nonjudgemental, and took him as he was... no matter what mood he was in. Kylo let go of the ship's controls and sat back in his seat and looked over at Anya. She was sitting in her seat, picking at the skin around her fingers. Watching her do something so simplistic was alluring to him. The way the starlight from hyperspace played on her skin and in her eyes, she looked radiant.

She stopped playing with her fingers for a moment and moved her hand up to adjust the high turtle neck collar of her shirt she was wearing. She pulled at it, ever so slightly revealing the dark bite mark he had left on her neck the night before. His lips twitched into a smirk. The night before he had had her pressed up against the glass of the window in her sitting room as he aggressively fucked her from behind and ravaged her neck. Sometimes he felt bad for how hard he went on her, some of the bruises and marks made him flinch a little bit with sympathetic pain, but he knew she liked it. She even asked for it from time to time.

"What?" She asked, noticing that he was staring at her... again.

"Just thinking."

"Ok."

"Thinking about how you were squealing my name last night." He said, her eyebrows rose and her cheeks blushed, oh how she got embarrassed so easily. She brushed it off and rolled her eyes before getting up and leaving the cockpit. Where she was going he had no clue. He waited to hear if the fresher door opened or not, but he couldn't quite make out what she was doing back there. Instead he heard rustling, like she was jostling fabric around. Curiosity got the best of him and he rose from his seat and walked to the back. He was stopped dead in his tracts to see her sitting at the edge of the bunk in nothing but her black lace bra and panties.

"I don't think I was squealing your name quite loud enough last night, Commander... I'm always afraid someone will hear me." She seductively said.

"Well... Captain... We do have four hours to kill." He said, dropping his cloak from his shoulders and ducking down to join her on the bunk. He grabbed a fist full of her hair at the nape of her neck and brought her lips to his. He passionately devoured at her mouth, his tongue slipping inside and playing with hers. With his other hand, he kneaded at her breast, occasionally pinching her nipple between his gloved gingers.

Pulling her head back further he reassaulted her neck, choosing to darken the marks that were already there. He lowered his other hand an dipped it down into her panties, parting her folds and pushing a finger inside her center. She was already slick and wet for him. She drove him crazy like this. Her breathy moans empowered him and emboldened him to go further. He let go of her briefly to start removing his own clothes, but the bunk was just too small of a space. As he yanked his boot off, he lost control and hit the metal above the bunk with his boot, leaving a large dark scuff mark. This elicited a laugh from Anya.

"Oh you think that's funny?" He said.

"Yes... I do." She boldly said.

"Hands and knees then... on the floor on my cloak." He ordered, to which she dutifully complied, even going the extra mile and removing her panties as she did so.

"You're the most obedient Captain in the First Order... did you know that?" He said as he massaged her plump ass.

"Only for you... Commander." She purred as she arched her back and parted her legs more, giving him more of a view of her core that glistened only for him. He knelt down on the floor with her and freed his length from the leather of his pants and plunged balls deep into her; causing her to yelp in surprise. She wiggled her ass against his hips as her body adjusted to his size. He lifted his hand up and brought it down with a loud smack against her cheeks.

"You also have the nicest ass in the First Order." He said, before slapping her again. He kneaded his fingers into her hips and began a hard assault of thrusting into her, causing her to moan and cry out his name. She was much louder now with her cries of pleasure now that they had the true privacy of her ship.

She really had been holding back on The Oasis. He brought a hand around to her front and began to twirl at her clit, drawing out deeper moans and cries of his name from her. They both came at the same time, her orgasm milking him dry and the constricting of her walls causing him to see stars. They laid on his cloak together as the ship hummed through hyperspace. The scuff on the ceiling of the bunk ever noticeable.

***

Rey gently nudged Anya awake once the controls informed her that they were nearing their destination. Anya had gotten much needed sleep and was feeling much better after hour and a half nap.

"We are almost there." Rey said.

"Oh great." Anya said.

"Oh... you should buff out that scuff. It should come off easy." Rey said, pointing to the black scuff on the white metal. Immediately Anya's eyes went wide and she could feel her face blush.

"Uhhh. No it's ok." She said.

"It should come off easy. No biggie."

"No... no... I like the scuff." Anya nervously said, her face now beat red. Rey now picked up on Anya's embarrassment and she too immediately got embarrassed.

"Oh... Ohhhhhh." She said, before leaping away from the bunk, fully understanding the implications of the origins of the scuff.

"Yeah... let's just go back up to the cockpit." Anya said with a nervous chuckle.

***

The old temple ruins were located in a heavily forested area of the planet. On the far side of Sorgan, the forests were older and denser. Anya maneuvered the ship into a small clearing and brought it down. They were going to have to take a small hike through the forest to get to the ruins.

"What do you know about these ruins?" Rey asked Anya as they hiked.

"I know they are ancient. Possibly older than the Jedi order. They could date back to more primitive times. So it's not quite certain if they are actually ruins of a Jedi Temple, or if they are just an ancient holy site for the force." Anya replied.

"How did you find them?"

"Everyone here on Sorgan knows about them. Most people stay away, they believe it to be haunted or cursed. People are often afraid of what they don't quite understand."

"I get that."

"I came here while I was pregnant with Nora. I definitely felt some sort of draw to the place. An inexplicable energy radiates from it. I knew Nora was force sensitive while she was still in my belly. It was like she could talk to me when we were connected like that."

"That's crazy. What would happen?"

"I would have dreams... Besides the dream I had last night and the dream before I left Kylo, I hadn't had any dreams outside of being pregnant. All the dreams I had surrounded Nora. I knew I was having a little girl, I knew she was going to have black hair, and I knew exactly what day she was going to be born on. I even had dreams about what specific food to eat. Like it went beyond cravings. It was like Nora was giving me a menu of what to eat!" Anya proudly said.

"That's incredible. I never knew a connection could be like that."

"You're telling me. I was scared shitless! Most expecting mothers fear childbirth, I was terrified that my child world be born fully knowing how to use the force."

"When did she first use it?" Rey asked.

"She had to be about eight months old, I had her sitting on a blanket on the floor by my feet, she was playing with a toy or two. I was preparing a lunch for us, I guess I wasn't making it fast enough because suddenly the piece of fruit I was chopping floated off the cutting board and right into her hand." She said as they walked though the forest. It was a pleasant time walking together and chatting. The conversation turned away from Anya and turned to Rey and things she wanted to tell Anya about herself. They two women were getting along well, laughing even, as if they were two old friends. Rey couldn't think of the last time she had a real woman to woman conversation with another person. It felt good.

Moss covered structures led structures came into view through a clearing in the trees. They had arrived to the ruins. Tall stone walls, staircases that led to nowhere, partially covered stone floors were all that was left. Anya and Rey explored for a few moments before they found the dead center of the ruins.

Rey felt that there was an electrifying energy about the place. It was like she could faintly hear whispers on the wind calling out to here. This indeed was a good place to meditate. Anya wanted to give Rey her space to meditate, so she went to the other side of a stone wall and found a spot to sit down and get comfortable. Rey sat in the middle of the ruins and assumed her mediation post.

"Be with me. Be with me." She began. It took little to no time at all before she felt the shift. Rey looked up and was sitting face to face with Luke and Leia.

"Well it took you long enough." Luke said.

"I've been trying!" Rey spat back.

"I have a bone to pick with you. Tell me why I had to find out myself that I had a grandchild." Leia said.

"I didn't know about that till a few weeks ago! And you need to not be appearing out of thin air! You terrified poor Anya half to death."

"Anya... so that's her name." Leia said.

"Yes; and she's delightful. You would have liked her. That's not really why I'm here. I have questions." Rey said.

"And we may or may not have answers." Luke said.

"Well... I've been having dreams, so has Finn, Anya too... but most concerning, little Nora has been acting strangely, going around looking for a 'lost man'. I've tried and tried to reach out to Ben in the force, but I haven't heard him since Exegol." Both Luke and Leia looked down, a somber look coming across their faces. Luke reached around and put an arm around his sister for comfort.

"Rey... he isn't here." Luke said.

"What do you mean, I saw him become one with the force, he disappeared." Rey said.

"I know, as did I... but for some reason, he never made it to this side."

"I hear his voice in my dreams, he's calling out, like he's trapped." Rey said.

"And he very well could be."Luke said.

"The Force moves like ribbon across all of reality. There is a separation between our reality and your reality. When one becomes one with the force they break through that ribbon and join us on this side. Sometimes, however, that break isn't so clean and clear cut." Luke began.

"Lost in The In Between, Solo is." A third voice croaked out, the voice of Master Yoda.

"Master Yoda!" Rey exclaimed in excitement.

"Greetings young Rey." Yoda said.

"It's very possible that when Ben gave his life force to you, he did not reserve quite enough for himself to make the transition fully." Leia said.

In the distance, Anya could hear Rey speaking, but she wasn't sure. She had dozed off again in the warm sunlight and was just relaxing. She heard Rey's voice softly, but then the voice of another... several others to be in fact. Worried that they were no longer alone, Anya sat up and took her blaster in hand. There were nomadic bandits in the forests every now and again, and at times they could be dangerous.

Anya marched down from her spot comfortable against a wall and entered the middle sanctuary of the ruins. What she saw took her breath away. Sitting around Rey were three figures, hazy, glowing, and almost transparent like Ghosts. Two were humans, one was a small alien creature. All turned to look at her as she stood there dumbfounded. It was Leia who stood up first to greet Anya.

"You must be Anya. I must say... you are awfully gorgeous. I had a feeling my son was more of a blond type of man." Leia said with a chuckle, Anya had no words to say, she just looked at Rey who quickly stood up.

"Anya... This is Luke Skywalker, Master Yoda, and... Leia Organa." Rey softly and calmly said to Anya.

"But... how... you..?" Anya stammered while pointing between all four people. Anya was utterly confused. She knew who Luke and Leia were, she had never met them, but she knew of them, she also knew to the best of her knowledge that they were dead.

"Rey will explain everything to you later. Come, join us." Luke said. Anya let out a cleansing sigh and walked over to Rey and sat down next to her. Being confused was an understatement.

"Strong with the force these ruins are." Master Yoda said.

"Yes. Which is why you can see and hear us." Luke said to Anya.

"I thought..." Anya began.

"That we were dead? Yes. Yes we are... technically." Leia said.

"Us Force users have some neat tricks we can do."Luke added.

"So.. is..?" Anya went to ask.

"No.... that is what we were just discussing." Rey said, disappointment flooded Anya's face.

"The In Between... or as it is most commonly known as... The World Between Words. A space between your reality and our reality." Luke started up again.

"So you think Ben is trapped there?" Rey asked.

"Think we do not. Know we do." Yoda said.

"There is no other explanation as to where he could be." Leia said.

"The lost man. Nora keeps searching for a lost man, she drew a picture." Anya said, reaching into a pocket and pulling out the folded up piece of paper that depicted Ben. Leia reached out to look at the drawing, she sighed and put her hand on her chest.

"Ben used to draw when he was small. Just like this." Leia said. 

"Is he reaching out to her? Does he know about her?" Anya asked, a feeling of distress enveloping her heart.

"Children... especially small children seem to be more attuned with The Force in certain areas, we think he is trying to call out to anyone who might be able to hear him." Luke said.

"Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is." Master Yoda said.

"That explains my being able to hear him calling." Rey said.

"This all makes sense, I read about something like this." Anya said.

"Where?" Rey asked.

"In one of the folk tale books I have. There was a short story about a hero who went on a quest, he fell through an opening of sorts between our space and 'the other'. He wandered for what felt like an eternity until a fair maiden was able to reopen the portal." Anya said.

"In myth truth sometimes lays." Master Yoda said.

"Finn said he dreamt we had returned to Exegol and we were searching for something." Rey said.

"Your journey might lead you back there." Luke said.

"Rey... you and Ben are part of a Dyad. A Dyad has not been seen for a thousand generations. The last time a Dyad existed there was true balance in The Force. Darkness will rise again unless Ben is restored." Leia cautioned.

"You have everything you need to accomplish this. I have faith in you." Luke said, and with that they all disappeared, leaving Rey and Anya alone in the ruins.

"We need to read all your myth and folk tale books." Rey said.

"I agree." Anya stated.

***********

A/N:

Greetings friends, I'm curious and eager to hear from anyone who is reading! So if you are a reader, leave a comment! Tell me hello!

Also, I try to brush up on Star Wars lore and things, but it can be so much at times, I genuinely am trying to do it all justice. Despite any mistakes I may make, I sincerely hope that the story is enjoyable to read.

Xoxo


	11. The Plot

Anya and Rey returned back to the villa just before dinner. Nora came running out through the garden with her arms held out towards her mother. Anya scooped up little Nora and gave her a squish before putting her back down on the ground.

Finn and Chewy appeared, and both looked rather exhausted. Chewy had flowers stuck all in his fur, and Finn had a noticeable chocolate stain on the front of his shirt, as well as flowers shoved into his hair.

"You look like you've seen battle." Rey said, greeting Finn with a kiss.

"I feel like it. She never stops! Does she ever run out of energy!?" Finn asked, directing his question towards Anya about Nora.

"No. She's a little ball of fun." Anya said with a chuckle.

"What's with the stain?" Rey asked, pointing to Finn's shirt.

"Arrrugh!" Chewy said.

"Cookies!? You made cookies!?" Rey exclaimed, looking down at a very excited Nora.

"Cookies!!!" Nora shouted.

"We shall eat them after dinner." Anya said. They all went inside where Moira had worked to prepare a meal for them all.

***

At dinner, Rey informed Finn and Chewy that their excursion had been successful, but with Nora's presence still there, Anya cautioned they it would be better to discuss details once Nora was in bed. On the trip, Anya had made it clear to Rey that she intended to tell Nora about her father only if Nora asked. Anya hoped that one day that would happen once Nora was much, much older. Rey too felt it was wise, why confuse the little girl needlessly?

After dinner, cookies were eaten, and Anya went to put Nora to bed while Chewy, Rey, and Finn sat by the fireplace in Anya's library. The fires crackled and gave off a warm glow to the whole room. The trio lounged in various spots in the dimly lit space, Chewy dozed off, and Finn sat with his arms around Rey while she thumbed through one of Anya's Myth and Folktale books.

"She's finally asleep." Anya said, entering the room carrying a bottle of wine and 4 glasses on a tray.

"Is she a good sleeper?" Rey asked.

"Surprisingly, yes. She's a pain in my ass when she first wakes up, though. Always so grumpy." Anya said, offering them all a glass and popping open the bottle.

"Aruwwwge, mggggh, arrrwg." Chewy interjected after waking up.

"He said Ben was like that too." Rey translated.

"Oh I know. The man was a pain in my ass too in the mornings." Anya said, feeling a blush come to her cheeks. Finn squeezed Rey's knee in excitement over the little private detail that Anya just offered.

"So... today." Rey began.

"Yes. Today." Finn said. Anya took a seat on a nearby couch across from Finn and Rey, Chewy got up and sat at the opposite end of where Anya was sitting. They all took a big swig of wine from their glasses and got in to it. Rey explained to Finn and Chewy what had happened at the ruins and what had been said. While Rey spoke, Anya got up and searched her book shelves for the myth book she was looking for.

"So... and in between land... or The World Between Worlds. Ben is stuck there?" Finn asked.

"Yes, that is what we think." Rey said.

"I found it!" Anya said from the other side of the room. She brought forward an old leather bound book.

"Is this the one with the story?" Rey asked.

"Yes. Here it is: 'The In Between'." Anya began to read from the short story:

"A thousand, thousand years ago the noble warrior King of the land of Mangor married his beloved wife. After the wedding, several months passed when the new Queen discovered she was pregnant! According to tradition a large celebration was held and one by one the elder, wise women of the kingdom came to bless the queen with knowledge. The last visitor the queen had was a wise old woman, a sorceress. One who could move objects with just the flick of her wrist.

"The sorceress approached the Queen and granted her a smile. "Many blessings to you shall come. For in your belly you carry all that is needed for peace, harmony, and balance." The old woman began. "You carry not one heir to the throne, but two! Twins you will welcome, and twins you shall have. A boy and a girl. Although alike in many ways, they will be different. One will be a source of light, the other a source of darkness. Do not feel the dark one, for the dark one will never overshadow the light, and the light will never overshadow the dark, so long as the two are always together. Love them, care for them, they will bring balance to the kingdom." The old woman said.

"What the old woman said turned out to be true. Twins were born to the king and queen. A boy and a girl. The boy was strong, fierce, and stubborn. The girl was soft, gentle, and kind. Separated the two were miserable without each other, but together they proved to be a duo unmatchable in wit. The twins grew up to be fine young adults, all in the land adored them. When the king died, his son became the new King and at his side his sister counseled him. Together they ruled the kingdom, bringing balance and harmony.

"One day, an enemy came to the land from the neighboring kingdom. The new king rode out to meet his foe while his sister stayed behind to maintain peace and balance in the. A great battle was waged, and in a moment of panic, the young king was lost. Fell he did, but not in death. Fell he did into a void, a space between his time and his sister's.

"Balance was lost in the kingdom. Darkness from enemies and foes flooded the land. The princess tried to fight them off, but it was of no use. She mourned her brother, but her heart tugged in her chest, for she knew that he was not dead, but in fact lost. In a last stitch effort the princess gathered her closest friends and warriors and they traveled to where her brother fell. "Let us pray. Let us meditate. Dig into your hearts. Use your energy and it will bring our king back!" The princess said.

"All gathered around the spot where the young king fell. Down deep they dug into themselves, and soon a portal opened. The princess stood and walked though the portal. Standing on the other side was her brother, the king. Upon seeing his sister, the king ran to her and embraced her. The portal crashed around them and they stood, reunited again in their shared kingdom. From that day on, balance and peace was restored to the kingdom of Mangor. The End."" Anya finished.

"So a fairy tale?" Finn said.

"Master Yoda said that sometimes truth is found in myth." Rey said.

"There's pictures, do you want to see?" Anya said, holding out the book to Finn.

"We'll need to return to Exegol. If he is in The World Between Worlds, we will have to do everything in our power to open up a portal of sorts and bring him back." Rey said.

"It's worth a try. We can not risk the galaxy becoming unbalanced. You and Ky... Ben... are a Dyad. Like the twins in this story. With one lost, darkness will come." Anya said.

"I highly doubt the public will be too pleased to hear that the man they knew as Kylo Ren can be brought back to life." Finn said.

"The public doesn't have to know anything. He can live in private. We can do this privately. No one has to know a thing." Anya said, just as Rey's communicator started dinging.

Poe:

I fucked up. I'm sorry

Rose:

Are you on Sorgan!? CALL ME!

Poe:

I regret it all. Please don't be mad. It was out of a moment of pettiness.

Rose:

CALL ME NOW

Rey immediately called Rose who sounded panicked on the other end.

"What's going on. I have you and Poe messaging me. What did Poe do!?" Rey said, everyone in the room looking at her.

"He sold the story." Rose said.

"What story?"

"Captain Harrow's story! You're with her aren't you? He took his notes and leaked them to a Galactic Web tabloid!!!" Rose said.

"HE DID WHAT NOW!?" Rey said, her face getting red with anger.

"Just search her name on the web. I have to go, he's drunk and crying." Rose said before hanging up.

"What was all that about?" Finn asked.

"Anya.... I am so sorry." Rey said, flipping on her Datapad and putting Anya's name into the search bar. Immediately dozens of tabloid stories came up, even old pictures of Anya in her First Order uniform popped up. Titles to the sensational news stories included: "Beauty and The Monster" "Mistress of Ren" "The Galactic Affair". Anya could see the look on Rey's face, she got up and pushed Finn aside and looked at the screen of the Datapad.

"Seven hells!" Anya said, grabbing the device from Rey. Anya viciously scrolled through as many stories as she could. There it was, all laid out for the galaxy to see, details Anya thought were private. The only good thing out of it was that nowhere was Nora or where they resided mentioned. To that fact, Anya sighed with relief.

"Finn, call Poe." Rey said. Finn immediately dialed up Poe. When Poe answered he was a drunk and blubbering mess.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I am. Really. We had gotten back from Sorgan. I was at the bar. I was drinking. This chick was into me, she said she was a journalist. I was drunk, so I blabbed. I thought I was fine since nothing came from it, but I guess they decided to do their own research and interview more people." Poe stammered.

It was true. All the journalist needed was Anya's name, rank, and First Order station. With the release of First order records, it was easy to track down Oasis personnel. Former Oasis officers and troopers were paid and interviewed for the story. People Anya once thought were loyal to her freely spilled any and all details about her time at The Oasis as well as Kylo's time.

Anya was shocked to see that there were pictures of her and Kylo together included in some of the stories. Pictures she had no idea existed; taken from security cameras on the station and at the hotel the night of the command ball. There were even pictures that were clearly taken in secret by her own Oasis personnel.

"Well damn." Finn said, seeing the security image of Kylo carrying Anya through the hotel halls over his shoulder. Anya just let out a nervous laugh.

Anya scrolled through the pictures. Her throat growing tight and her eyes stinging. She had no photos of Kylo, they never took a photo together. Although her privacy had now been breached, she was a little bit grateful for the photos. Each snapshot capturing a distinct memory.

There were shots of them just standing next to each other on The Oasis, and shots of her reaching up and dusting something off his shoulder. Stills from security footage of their passionate hotel garden kiss. There was one photo, however, that Anya lingered on.

The photo had been taken on The Oasis. Anya was wearing her white uniform, she had been standing on one of the observation decks overlooking a hangar. Coming up behind her, out of the darkness, was Kylo, his hands around her waist and his lips against her neck. On Anya's face was a look of pure happiness and bliss.

"Well, that's enough about that, can't do anything about it now." Anya said, clicking off the Datapad.

"Will you be ok?" Rey asked.

"I survived looking my father and uncle in the eye after doing my walk of shame back to my hotel room after being fucked senseless by Kylo, I think I can handle this. By next week this will be old news. As long as Nora is kept safe, I am happy." She said, handing the Datapad back to Rey and then downing the rest of her wine.

"Let's get back to what's really important, not the past, but the future." Anya said, sitting back down on the other couch.

***

It was decided that they would at least try. They would return to Exegol and just see what was there. Chewy, with Rey's translating, expressed concerns that The Falcon might not be able to make that trip again, so Anya offered her ship. The issue was, however, that Anya's ship was more of a small leisure vessel. So the new plan was to sell Anya's ship for a more suitable one. Anya also expressed concerns over leaving Nora.

Chewy stepped up again. He would stay behind with Nora. This was something Anya felt extremely comfortable with. She trusted the Wookiee and knew that he already loved Nora.

"I hid the way finder on Tatooine. So we'll need to go there after getting a new ship." Rey said.

"I'll need to find a reputable place to buy a ship. I won't be stuck in a bad deal." Anya said.

"Arwehggh!" Chewy said.

"Chewy... it's best that it's just us that knows about this."Rey said

"Arrgh, arr, waaag." He protested.

"What?" Anya asked.

"Chewy has someone he trusts, I trust him too, but he might ask questions."

"Who?" Finn asked.

"Lando. That we go to Cloud City."

"Lando Calrissian?" Anya asked.

"Another one of Ben's adopted uncles." Rey said.

"I see. Would he ask questions though? I could just be a friend in the market for a new ship." Anya said.

"We could risk it." Rey said.

"It's better we risk things with someone like Lando who will understand things about the force and why we need to do this, than with an outsider who will rat us out." Finn said, with everyone immediately thinking of Poe.

"I'm comfortable with it." Anya said.

"Screw it. Me too." Rey said.

"Lets do this then!" Finn said, fist pumping the air.

***

Finn held Rey close in bed later that night. The plan was made, everything was settled. Anya needed a day or two to secure things at the Villa and make sure Nora had everything she needed. Chewy was going to send a message to Lando about a "friend" wanting to trade in her ship. No one was going to talk to Poe about this.

"Thank you." Rey said to Finn.

"For what?"

"For being so quick to accept all this, and to understand why we need to do this. Other people might not be so understanding." Rey said.

"You have been an excellent teacher to me. Of course I understand. I now understand fully why this has to happen. You're not the only one with your nose stuck in a Jedi textbook ya know." He said, kissing the top of her head.

"I love you." She said with a smile.

"And I love you." He said, leaning down to kiss her before pulling away with a mischievous look in his eye. Before Rey could protest, Finn dove under the blankets and was making his way towards her underwear.

"Hey! Hey! What are you doing!?" She whispered loudly, trying to fight him off to no avail.

"I'm trying to do you, ya goof." His voice came from under the blankets.

"We are in someone else's house as their guest!" She protested.

"Then be quiet and let the master work." He said. Rey let out a little giggle before covering her face with her pillow, giving in to whatever Finn wanted.

********

Hi hi hi. Once again, I hope you're enjoying! Let me know your feels about the Rey/Finn part I put in at the very end... it's totally "safe for work", I much prefer to detail the exploits of Kylo and Anya. 😏😏😏😏. But I just wanted to throw in one sweet part.

I also want to say I have a TikTok account. The username for that is @commander_nanata so follow me there!!!

Anywho, the part about the pictures. The picture that Anya lingered on was totally inspired by the photo I have attached below of JFK and Marilyn Monroe. Don't worry, I'm not trying to say there are any similarities between JFK, Marilyn, and our characters here, I just think it's one heck of a sexy picture.


	12. Cloud City

Anya was anxious, but excited to go on this journey with Rey and Finn. She worked frantically to make final arrangements for her to be away from little Nora for an extended period of time. Chewy wouldn't be entirely on his own with Nora, Moira would be staying at the villa to assist, as well two kitchen maids, and several security guards. They didn't exactly know how long this would possibly take, so they prepared for a week tops.

Chewy had sent a message to Lando claiming that a friend of Rey and Finn was in the market for a new ship. According to Chewy, Lando bought it right up and didn't even ask any questions about it. They would arrive in Cloud City that evening and shop for a new ship the following morning.

Everyone had gathered in the front garden to say goodbye. Anya was holding on tightly to Nora.

"Mama will be back! I promise! Chewy is staying with you!"

"Don't go mama!" Nora said.

"Mama has to. Chewy and Aunt Moira will take care of you."

"ChooChoo!" Nora shouted, throwing herself backwards almost out of Anya's arms towards Chewy. Chewy gave off a small chuckle before taking Nora in his arms.

"You behave! No mischief!" Anya said, before kissing Nora. Nora just smiled and buried her face in Chewy's fur.

"You have nothing to worry about Mistress, she will be in good hands." Moira said, stepping forward. It was then that they all heard an approaching ship, looking towards the west, they spotting an approaching X-wing.

"Shit..." Finn said.

"Dammit! It's Poe!" Rey added. Poe landed his ship nearby and they watched as he scrambled out of the cockpit and ran across the field towards them.

"I need to apologize." He said, huffing and puffing straight towards Anya.

"For selling out my private story to the press? Is that it?" Anya said, crossing her arms.

"Yes... I'm stupid."

"Well at least you didn't give our location and Nora away; but I don't know if i can trust you ever again."

"I don't blame you." He bashfully said. Any adjust rolled her eyes and began to walk away. She really didn't want to have to deal with him at the moment. What could she even do about it now? Nothing really.

"Wait... where are you all going?" Poe said, noting that everyone was dressed for travel, bags were piled up on the front path, and Anya's ship was close by.

"A trip, Poe. None of your business." Finn said.

"Listen. I said I'm sorry. Whatever you guys are up to, count me in, I promise I wont squeal ever again." He said. Anya and Rey looked at each other.

"He is an excellent pilot. He could be useful." Rey said.

"You can come, but you have to leave your communicator, datapad, and any other tracking and communicating devices with Chewy." Anya ordered.

"Yes ma'am." He said, rummaging through his pockets and handing everything to Chewy. With some final goodbyes said, they all boarded Anya's ship.

"So where are we off to?" Poe asked.

"We'll tell you later. Oh..." Rey started, then turning around to make sure Anya was out of ear shot, "Don't ask about the scuff in the bunker."

"What?" Finn and Poe both asked.

"Just don't." Rey said before going to join Anya up in the cockpit.

***

Anya piloted the ship and Rey copiloted. Anya's ship was very tiny. There were only the two seats in the cockpit and the bunker, where Finn and Poe now sat.

"So uhh... it's later, where are we going?" Poe asked Finn.

"Cloud City."

"What for?"

"Anya wants to buy a new ship."

"So... she asked two jedi to help her pick out a new ship?" Poe said, now noticing the scuff on the ceiling. He lifted his finger up to scratch at it.

"That's all you need to know right now." Finn said.

"We're doing jedi stuff aren't we? Secret jedi stuff."

"It's none of your business right now. You have proven yourself to be untrustworthy." Finn said defensively.

"I said I was sorry!!!!" Poe said getting all defensive. Anya and Rey could hear Finn and Poe start to raise their voices in the back, so Anya set the ship to autopilot and the two women rose from their seats to see what the guys were up to. When they got to the back, it was clear the two men were in a heated argument. Exchanging words and insults towards each other. Calling each other names.

"You know what. I said I was sorry! I feel awful and I'l do anything to make it up!" Poe pleaded.

"Anything?" Anya said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes."

"Then stop asking questions about what we are doing. It's top secret for right now, we'll tell you after we get a new ship." Anya said.

"Fine... fine... I can deal with that."

"Good. I'm glad." Anya said.

"One more question though!" Poe said.

"What?" Anya said, clearly annoyed with him.

"What the fuck is up with the scuff?" Poe said, to which Rey covered her face with her hands. Everyone stood there quietly.

"Yeah... what is up with that?" Finn added.

"You want to know?" Anya said.

"Yes." Both Poe and Finn said.

"You really want to know?" Anya asked again, stepping forward.

"Tell us dammit!" Poe said.

"The scuff is from Kylo's boot. He fucked my brains out right where you're standing. You happy now?" Anya said, crossing her arms over the black fitted jacket she was wearing. The color briefly drained from both Finn and Poe's faces and they both began to look very uncomfortable, where as Rey started to laugh.

"Have fun spending the rest of the trip back here boys." Rey said as she laughed as she and Anya turned back to go into the cockpit.

***

There was not a peep from Poe or Finn the rest of the trip. Anya and Rey just enjoyed their time up front chatting and getting to know each other even more. It was refreshing to both of them how well they got along. Anya took control of the ship as they made their approach to Cloud City. They were cleared to land in one of Lando's private hangars, where he stood waiting to greet them.

"Lando!" Rey said as they exited Anya ship.

"Hey kids!" He said, greeting them all with hand shakes and hugs.

"Lando, this is our good friend Anya, the one who needs a new ship." Rey said, introducing Anya to Lando. Lando eyed up Anya, up and down and then extended his hand.

"Well... well... well... any friend of Rey's is a friend of mine." He said, taking Anya's hand and suavely kissing the back of it.

"Thank you for having us." Anya nervously said.

"Come! Let's relax, I'll have my men look over your ship, Anya, and we'll get a trad in estimate for you. Tomorrow we go shopping!" He said.

***

The evening went rather smoothly. Lando was very hospitable, preparing a nice dinner and accommodations for everyone. He freely told stories from his youth as well as old war stories. Anya sat nervously and quietly, not making a peep. She let everyone else do the talking. She felt that she really didn't have anything to add to the conversation since she had been working for "the other side". She also didn't want to risk potentially souring the mood with Lando, whom she had just met.

"So... Anya... Why do you want to sell your ship?" Lando asked after downing the rest of his cocktail.

"Oh... it't just time. It's very tiny, as you saw. It was my first ship I got for my eighteenth birthday. So It's time." She said before she took tried to chug the rest of her cocktail.

"You're fortunate. I haven't seen one of those models in forever." He said referring to the type of ship she flew.

"Really? I thought they were quite common."

"Common.... If you're an Order Brat." He said flatly, using the term Order Brat in reference to someone whose parents were in The First Order. Anya was suddenly nervous. She had no idea that the make and model of her ship was one tied to the First Order. It was true. She did receive it for her birthday from her father, but she never gave much thought to it that it was only a common vessel amongst the First Order. Anya felt heat rise to her face.

"Yes! Anya was a First Order Brat, but she is our friend now!" Rey defended.

"Yeah... my father was in The Order. That's all in the past now." Anya calmly said.

"Come on guys. You know me better than this. Anya... Anya... Anya... I know exactly who you are. I'm a huge fan of gossip tabloids." Lando said. All Anya could do was audibly gulp.

"Come on Lando. She's our friend. She's done nothing wrong." Finn interjected.

"I didn't say she did anything wrong. What? You all look nervous!" He said before laughing. Silence. Everyone was on edge. Lando laughed again, putting his hand on his stomach and leaning back in his chair.

"Guys, really, it's fine! Now, why do you really want to get a new ship? What has it been, nearly three years you choose to hide away, and all of a sudden you figure: 'screw it, I want a new ship.' You all are up to something. I just know it." Lando said.

"We are, and we can't tell you." Rey said.

"Can't tell me?" Lando said, a bit offended.

"It's Jedi stuff." Finn said.

"They wont even tell me what they're doing. I'm practically a hostage to them." Poe said.

"And yet... Anya knows what you are all up to. Which leads me to believe that whatever it is involves her."

"Chewy knows too." Finn let it slip before Rey punched him in the arm.

"So Chewbacca can know and he isn't even here, and I cant!?" Poe said raising his voice.

"We're going back to Exegol." Rey said, everyone looked over at her.

"Now why would you want to do some crazy shit like that?" Lando asked.

"We need to try to bring him back." Rey softly said.

"I see." Lando said after a long pause.

"Wait... bring.. Ben... Kylo... back?" Poe questioned.

"There are some who would consider that to be treason. Especially right now with the public's demands for justice against remaining First Order leaders." Lando said. Anya stood up from her chair and reached across the table and grabbed the open bottle of wine and poured herself a heavy glass before sitting back down and sipping on it.

"Which is why we were keeping it private. It was going to be a secret, it is going to be a secret. What we don't need right now is someone spilling the beans about all of this." Anya said, directing the last part of her statement towards Poe while pointing her dinner knife at him.

"I said I was sorry!" He said putting his hands up defensively. Part of Poe was actually a little bit terrified of Anya. As nice and prim and proper as she was, Poe got the sense that if she was pushed, she just might slice his throat open.

"Why the need though, why bring him back?" Lando asked.

"Because of the Dyad." Both Anya and Rey said at the same time.

"Only in the existence of a Dyad will there ever be true peace and balance restored to the galaxy and the force. Ben is not dead, rather, he is trapped in a void that exists between our reality and the force afterlife. With him being trapped there, it guarantees that darkness will rise again."

"I see. And what roll do you... the ex.... girlfriend... of my dearly departed idiot nephew, have to play in all of this? I understand Finn and Rey needing to go, and dumb ass down there tagging along, but you?" Lando asked. Anya sighed and looked down at her hands before reaching into her jacket pocket for her small datapad. She clicked the device on and pushed it across the table towards Lando. Lando looked down at the screen to see a picture of Anya holding Nora displayed. Silence. No one said a thing.

Lando gazed at the screen. Rubbed his hands over his face and then pinched the bridge of his nose before letting out a loud sigh.

"What's her name?" He asked.

"Nora." Anya replied.

"How... how old is she?" It sounded like Lando had something caught in his throat.

"Two."

"Well... You're going to need a fast and powerful ship then."

***

After dinner everyone was shown to their rooms that Lando provided for them. Anya's room was comfortable and spacious. She sat on the edge of the bed and bobbed up and down noting the softness of it. One entire wall of her room was glass that looked out into the endless cloudy night sky on Bespin. It reminded her of her rooms back on The Oasis.

Her old Oasis bedroom had a wall made entirely of glass. She remembered the times that Kylo would pull all the sheets, blankets, and pillows off of her bed and make a little nest for them next to the window. There they would sit for hours, sometimes in comfortable silence with each other, other times taking turns venting about whatever professional issues they were facing that week. Moments like that were the some of the things that she missed.

A knock at her door startled Anya out of her thoughts. She rose and went to answer the door, on the other side was Lando with a sympathetic look on his face.

"Just checking to make sure you have everything you need." He said.

"Yes... I do. Thank you." It seemed as though he wanted to say more, but was hesitant.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Anya asked.

"Oh... well... I just want to know... was he kind to you?" He asked. Lando had a genuine look of concern and empathyin his eyes. Anya could tell that the subject was a difficult one for the old man, one that even now he was struggling with.

"He was, and he was funny, and courteous, and gentle." She said. Yes, Kylo Ren had at times been gentle with her. All the times he would twirl her hair in his fingers while they laid in bed, or just kiss her softly and slowly in their nest of pillows and blankets.

"Funny?" Lando said with a chuckle.

"He had a dry and sarcastic sense of humor, dark humor too. That was a given." She said as she started to fiddle with the ring on her finger. Lando's eye caught sight of the ring on her finger and his nerves calmed.

"I have just the ship in mind for you, I'm looking forward to showing you tomorrow." He said.

"Thank you." She responded before he turned to leave.

Anya made herself comfortable in her room once more. She had a twinge of sadness in her heart. She missed Nora. This was the first time she ever spent a night without her. Anya first tried to fall asleep in the middle of the large bed, but she was having no luck. So she rose and started the shower in the connected bathroom.

While she waited for the water to warm up, she caught a glimpse of her naked body in the mirror. Since having Nora, she never considered herself "fat"... rather... "fuller" was a more appropriate term. Her stomach wasn't quite as taught and flat as it used to be, and her hips were wider than before. The skin around her hips had stretch markings on them now, something that occasionally made her self-conscious. As far as her tits went, long gone were the days where she could maybe get away with not wearing a bra. Now, like her hips, they were fuller and needed support after the nearly year and a half of tireless work it took to feed Nora. An accomplishment Anya was very proud of.

Anya stepped into the shower and let the hot water relax and soothe her. Time in the shower was just what she needed to relax enough to go to sleep. Anya gazed at the photo of Nora she had on her datapad, and finally drifted off to sleep.

***

Breakfast was eaten in haste the next morning. Everyone was very well rested and eager to get the day started. Lando informed Anya that since her ship was in such good condition, it would trade in at a very good price.

They all went with Lando to meet with his ship salesman. The salesman's name was Gradoo, he was a flashy humanoid who dyed his hair a fluorescent yellow and had piercings on his eyebrows. He spoke very loudly and was in every way a typical salesman, he also gave off an air that he was a total scumbag. He showed Anya several ships, used luxury leisure models, all of which Anya either didn't like or Lando advised against.

"Gradoo... come on now. Anya is my personal friend. You know me, show her the good ships. We want something with speed and most importantly... fire power" Lando said.

"Well... I have a brand new yacht in. I'd be more than happy to show you that one... if that is something you're looking for." He nervously said.

"Are you worried I cant afford something like that?" Anya said, crossing her arms in front of her.

"No! I'm sorry! No, I did not mean to give off that impression. Right this way, follow me." The man stammered, leading the group off towards the new space yacht.

The yacht was the fastest in its class, it had substantial fire power, weapons shields, and many more features that were attractive. The yacht was also much larger than Anya's ship. It boasts a sitting area, four bunk spaces, a kitchen, full sized fresher, and a cockpit that had 5 seats.

"How much?" Anya asked, pleased with the ship.

"Uhhh... one hundred." Gradoo said.

"Sold." Anya said.

"I'll need to see proof of funds if you are to apply for a loan with us." Gradoo responded.

"No need... I'm paying in full today, solid credits." Anya said, turning away just as Gradoo's jaw dropped to the floor. They got right to work on the paperwork, sure enough, Anya transferred over the balance in full and the ship was hers. They all then began to transfer over any personal items that were in Anya's old ship. Anya stood in her old ship one last time. It was a bitter sweet moment, but one she was happy to live. She pressed her hand against the scuff on the ceiling of the bunk one last time before leaving.

***

The new ship was now freshly fueled and all of their belongings loaded up. Lando watched the group of them make final walk throughs of the new vessel.

"Well... we cant thank you enough." Rey said coming up to Lando.

"Sure thing kid. You all just be safe." He said reaching out to give her a hug.

"We will."

"We are just about ready." Finn said with Poe just behind him.

"You take care kid." Lando said, also reaching out to embrace Finn.

"General." Poe said.

"General." Lando responded before also hugging Poe. The last person to appear was Anya. She stood by them all nervous, feeling like a total outsider seeing the four of them together in a sweet moment. It was interesting to see "the other side". Her whole life she only was surrounded by people within the First Order. In a round about way, it was weird to be standing so close to a legendary Resistance General whom at one time Anya was taught to treat like a criminal.

"You too! Come here!" Lando said, waving his arm to Anya. He pulled Anya into a hug.

"Thank you for your help." Anya said.

"Anything for family." He softly said to her, softening the hug and patting the back of her hair in a manner that felt very paternal. Anya felt tears well up in her eyes. Family. For so long she only thought of herself and Nora as a family unit, never in her wildest dreams would she think that somewhere out there there would be people who would actually accept her.

Thanking Lando one last time, the group boarded the new ship. Poe of course was eager to see all the new controls and even asked to pilot it. With it being Anya's ship of course, she wanted to be the one to bring it up to hyper speed the first time. After that, she said Poe could take control. They were now off to Tatooine.

****

Author's note:

Hey guys, I totally know these last two chapters have been a little slow. Sometimes that has to happen in order to tell a really great story. Do not worry, action IS coming! I promise you!!!! As always, I would love to hear thoughts!!! Please comment! I so want to interact with my readers!!!! Also don't forget to follow me on TikTok @commander_nanata


	13. Tatooine

The journey towards Tatooine was going smoothly, especially now that they were in a much more comfortable ship. Poe was like a kid in a candy shop behind the controls of a fancy new ship, and Rey, Finn, and Anya were enjoying the built in entertainment games in the lounge area. Rey and Anya were in a tense game of holo-ping-pong when alerts began to chime from the cockpit.

"Uhhh, guys!" Poe called out. Everyone rushed to the front of the ship to see that closing in on them on the radar were two unidentified ships.

"What the heck?" Finn said, just as they felt the ship lurch. Poe threw the ship out of hyperspace and two other ships suddenly appeared out of nowhere, attacking them.

"Throw up the shields!" Poe said. Rey jumped into the copilot's seat and Finn and Anya buckled themselves in behind.

"I don't know where they are!" Rey said.

"Here!" Anya said, leaning over and flipping the switch. The shields were up, but their attackers still keeps assaulting them.

"Where are the blasters!?" Finn shouted. It was utter chaos, Poe effortlessly flew the ship, maneuvering to stay out of their attackers line of sight. Rey, Finn, and Anya worked hard to familiarize themselves with the newer controls. Surprisingly, once the blaster controls were found, Anya and Finn's seats shifted and their own blaster controls appeared before them, giving them control of their own weapons.

"This is sick!" Finn said.

"Well aim and fire at them!!!!" Poe said. The battle was now on as they fought off their attackers. Poe began his tried and true trick of hyper skipping, which the new ship handled much better than The Falcon ever did. Still, their attackers were able to follow and track them through hyperspace.

"Life was a whole lot easier when The First Order didn't invent hyperspace tracking!!!!" Poe shouted out.

"We didn't invent it! The Empire did!" Anya yelled.

"Tomato, tomato! Same thing!!!!" Poe shouted.

"On our left!!!" Rey said, Anya aimed and fired her blasters at her target, effectively taking out the assaulting ship.

"Whooooo!" Poe shouted.

"Good aim Anya!" Poe said. They were not out of the woods yet, there was still another ship on their tail.

"Have you made contact with them? What do they want!?" Rey asked.

"Gee. Call them up, find out, ask if they want Muja muffins while you're at it." Poe said. Rey tried to make radio contact, but there was no response. Things were getting heated, and even with the new ships powerful fancy shields, they were taking damage. Finally, the remaining ship came into Anya's crosshairs, and with swift precision, she took out the last ship. Finally. They were safe. Poe slowed the ship to a hover while they all stopped to catch their breath.

"You're a good shot Anya." Rey said.

"Thanks. I guess I still got it." She said with a laugh.

"Still got it?" Finn asked.

"Sometimes I had free time on The Oasis, I did target practice with my troopers in the one of the hangars."

"Funny. Stormtroopers cant hit a target for shit!" Poe said with a laugh.

"Damn right." Finn confirmed. For a moment everyone laughed and tried to relax before they started to assess their damage. The damage wasn't horrible. A landing gear was probably compromised, but the ship would still be able to land on the remaining 3. What concerned Anya the most was damage to one of the heat shields.

"We'll be able to enter the Tatooine atmosphere, but that's about it. I would be uncomfortable trying to go anywhere else after that." Anya said.

"Oh... it's just a scratch. Trust me, I've flown worse." Poe said.

"Well I don't like it. We'll fix it when we get to Tatooine." Anya pushed back, her old Captain's colors showing.

"Ay, ay Captain." Poe said, to which Anya rolled her eyes.

***

They landed the ship in a Tatooine mechanical hangar. The sight of a shiny new ship with blaster damage drew a crowd. Out of the mechanical shop limped a grumbling, greasy, and overweight man, followed by his mechanical droids. Anya stepped forward to dictate what was wrong with the ship and what she wanted fixed.

The man just scoffed at her, but Anya stood her ground, digging her heels in and asserting that she knew what she was talking about when it came to ship repairs and mechanics. She spat off orders and facts that the mechanic didn't even know about. By the end of their conversation, the mechanic was left with his tail between his legs knowing full well he wasn't going to be able to swindle Anya out of unnecessary repairs. Anya knew her stuff and she wasn't afraid to raise her voice or chew someone out.

"I'm going to see if I can rent a speeder or two to get us to the Skywalker farm." Rey announced once things were squared away at the mechanic shop.

"Yeah, you and I go out there, we'll get the way finder and come right back." Finn said.

"Poe and I can hang out here." Anya said.

"We'll meet you at the Cantina." Poe said. They parted ways with Finn and Rey heading out to find transportation and Poe and Anya went straight to the cantina.

It was easy to find two speeder bikes to rent for a few hours, just what they needed to get out to the old abandoned moisture farm. It was a fairly quick trip out to the farm. Once they were there, Finn and Rey did a quick walk around the place to ensure that they were alone and that nothing was misplaced since the last time Rey was there.

"So this is where Anakin and Luke were raised?" Finn asked.

"No. Just Luke. Anakin and his mother had been slaves in the town. After he went to the jedi temple his mother married, Luke was raised here by Anakin's stepbrother Owen Lars and his wife." Rey said, while looking around the abandoned space. She found a mark in the stone wall that she had left indicating the spot she was looking for. Taking careful and measured steps away from the wall she counted out a specific number and then sat down, and using the force, she brought up a box she had buried in the sand. Inside the box was the way finder.

"That's it?" Finn asked.

"Yep, a Sith wayfinder. The only surviving one to Exegol."

"Great. Lets get out of here."

"We need one more thing." Rey said. Going back up to the stone building and walking around to the front. She found another marker she had left, doing the same thing she had done with the way finder, she unearthed the bundle that contained Luke and Leia's lightsabers.

"What do we need those for?" Finn asked.

"If we are successful and Ben does come back, he should have Luke's lightsaber." She said, taking the familiar weapon in hand.

"What about Leia's, it doesn't seem right leaving her's here all alone." Finn said once he noticed Rey bundling up Leia's saber to put it back.

"You're right." She said, stopping.

"Bring it. Nora might use it one day." He said, putting his hand on her shoulder. To that thought, Rey smiled and took both Lightsabers in hand. Holding each other's hand, they walked back to their speeders to head back into town.

***

The notorious Tatooine cantina was packed, loud, and grimy. When Poe and Anya entered the establishment, all the patrons stopped their conversations for a moment and looked at them before then ignoring their existence entirely. Poe and Anya moved through the crowd, they had no idea how long Finn and Rey would be, so they decided to make themselves comfortable in the meantime.

"Go find a spot for us in the back, I'll get us some drinks. What do you like?" Poe said.

"A Chandrilian Elixir, thank you." Anya said, reaching into her pockets to hand him some coin for her drink.

"Of course... and I've got it, it's on me." He said, patting her shoulder. Poe left Anya to head towards the bar while Anya made her way towards the back of the cantina to find them a seat. Anya could feel various eyes scan her up and down as she made her way to the back of the cantina. Various men, aliens, creatures, and even droids ogled her as she walked passed. "Whatever": she thought to herself. She wasn't wearing anything that was particularly eye catching. Just an all black flight suit type getup with her two trusty blasters holstered to her thighs, and her hair braided up out of the way.

Anya found a comfortable round booth in the back, she took note of a very old blaster mark in the wall behind the booth seats. It was a cantina after all, fights probably broke out all the time. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a group of male individuals looking at her and whispering. She began to get hyper vigilant of her surroundings. Poe soon returned and sat down next to her and handed her her drink.

"Here ya go." He said.

"Thanks." She responded before taking a sip.

"No problem."

"Don't look now, but what's the deal with those four to my right?" She whispered to him. Poe took a moment to casually look over.

"What four?" He said, Anya quickly turned and saw that the four individuals were gone, disappeared.

"Oh... Well they're gone now."

"Hey... listen. I know I've said it a dozen or so times already. I'm really sorry, about... ya know, leaking your story." He said.

"It's fine. Can't do anything about it now. Quit worrying, I'm not that mad." She said with a genuine smile. They settled into an only slightly awkward silence before Anya struck up a conversation.

"So you were a general for the resistance?" Anya asked.

"Yep... technically still am."

"So this would be a complete mess for you if people found out what we were doing."

"It's treason, I'd probably be sent to a labor camp."

"A labor camp? I thought The First Order was the only one who implemented those, you mean to tell me the noble and good Resistance has them too?" She sarcastically said with a smile.

"No matter what you do, there are still criminals in the Galaxy."

"If only both sides talked more instead of fought." Anya said, taking a swig of her drink.

"I know. Sitting though all the court trials for various First Order Leader, and talking to you... I'm seeing that both sides have had their faults." He solemnly said.

"At the end of the day, everyone wanted the same thing: balance and order." Anya said.

"Yep, except the order went about it by ruling with fear and terror." Poe said, taking a large swig of his drink.

"I won't deny that, but The Resistance also played dirty at times. Blood was spilled by both parties." Anya said, there was silence from Poe.

"How... how many lived on Starkiller base.?" Poe quietly asked.

"Anywhere from half a million to a million." She responded. Poe's face turned into a frown and guilt flooded over him.

"I've never... I've never sat down and thought about the carnage I personally had a part in." He said, looking into his now empty drink.

"Here... go get yourself another one." Anya said, pushing over a few credit pieces for him. Poe gave a half hearted smile before getting up and making his way towards the bar. For a few moments Anya sat alone, the drink was starting to hit her and she was swaying to the music in her seat. The table suddenly lurched and a big heap of a creature sat down in front of her with a loud grunt.

"Oh hello." She said, he didn't look too amused. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a blinking puck device and tossed it on to the table.

"You know what that is?" He gurgled.

"No... why don't you enlighten me?" She said, sitting straight up in her seat and bringing her left hand down to the one blaster on her thigh.

"That's a bounty puck. Care to guess who it's for?"

"The bartender." Anya jokingly said as she discreetly prepared her blaster under the table. The creature brought his claws up to the puck and clicked it on, immediately a hologram of Anya's face popped up.

"We can do this calmly, or I can make a scene." He said, just as a bounty droid appeared at the table, it too tossing a puck down on the table. The two bounty hunters looked at each other, then at Anya, then back at each other. The three of them moved all at the same time, Anya jumped up in her seat, a blaster in each hand, one pointed at the large creature, the other at the droid. The creature had a blaster pointed at Anya and one pointed at the droid, and the droid had it's blasters just the same. It was a stand off.

"Let's make a scene." Anya said, pulling the trigger and quickly taking out the droid before jumping up and kicking a blaster free from the large creature's hand. She was impossibly quick, nimble, and agile. Suddenly the cantina was silent, the music stopped playing, and all eyes were on Anya, who was now standing on top of the table.

The creature was hissing and groaning over his wrist, which Anya no doubt broke, with his other hand he still kept his blaster pointed at her. Now the whole cantina knew that there were bounty hunters here, and that there was a bounty on Anya. Anya watched as the mood of the cantina changed and the degenerates around her began to ready their own weapons, they all thought they each had a chance at whatever bounty was on Anya's head.

Anya scanned the crowd and saw Poe standing in the distance, with his blaster drawn, he nodded his head, indicating to her that he had her back, all Anya had to do was get through the crowd and out the door.

"So.... I have a bounty on my head. This is news to me... what's it for?" Anya said to the creature.

"You know damn well... First Order Scum!" The creature said. Upon saying that, the whole mood of the space changed even further. Suddenly the eagerness to capture Anya grew more intense.

"Hey! The bounty is mine! And Only mine! You'll have to take me down to get it!" Poe said from across the room. For a brief moment, all attention went to Poe, Anya took that opportunity to blast the creature who first came to her. Straight through his head she shot him, green blood splattering through the room. Chaos erupted, it was a full on brawl. Drunk cantina patrons were fighting each other in an effort to get near Anya. Anya blasted and fist fought her way through the crowd towards Poe who was trying to get to her.

Anya was skilled in hand to hand combat. Effortlessly, she dislocated shoulders and elbows, kicked the breath out of lungs, and concussed many. For being as petite as she was, she was mighty and fierce. Finally, she met back up with Poe, and the two of them were surrounded.

"You're outnumbered! Give up!" Someone shouted in the crowd.

"I've been against worse." Poe said.

"We don't take kindly to First Order Scum!" Another voice shouted. For a brief moment, it felt like they were done for. Completely surrounded they were. A stray blaster shot rang out from the crowd, barely missing Anya and Poe, hitting a bystander. Anya and Poe started shooting and fist fighting their attackers once again. Slowly they made their way towards the exit, that was until a distinct hum of two light sabers filled the air.

"Enough!!!!" Rey's voice bellowed. Rey and Finn were back, and the cantina was a disaster.

"Jedi business, go back to your drinks." Finn said, grabbing Anya's arm and pulling her out of the Cantina, Rey did the same with Poe. Once they were outside, Finn let go of Anya. When Anya went to turn she ran into a man. He looked dumbfounded at her as he held out another blinking puck with her face on it. Swiftly, Anya lifted her hand up and jabbed him right in the neck, causing him to collapse into temporary unconsciousness.

***

The third bounty hunter was now tied up in the back of the mechanical shop where final repairs to the ship were being made. As he slowly came back into consciousness, he saw that he was faced with the faces of Anya, Rey, Finn, and Poe. At first he tried to struggle, but it was no use, he was utterly trapped.

"Who sent you?" Anya asked first, but he just spat at her feet.

"I wont ask nicely again." Anya said, after slapping him across the face. "I'll ask you again, WHO. SENT. YOU." Anya aggressively demanded. A slurry of thoughts were flowing through Anya's mind. When was a bounty put out on her? Who put the bounty out on her? Was Nora safe? Upon arriving back to their ship, Anya immediately called Moira and relayed a message to Chewy that there was now danger. A written message from Chewy was sent back to Anya assuring her that Nora was safe and that there was no danger to the toddler. He even included a picture of Nora playing with her dolls.

"I... I... I don't know! I'm new at this! I thought some chick would be easy." The young man said, Anya slapped him across the face again.

"You thought wrong." She said with a sinister chuckle. As bright, kind, and cheery as Anya was most of the time. These issues with a bounty on her ignited a fury and darkness in her that she didn't realize was there. Seeing her being fierce and savage was alarming to Rey, Finn, and Poe, yet at the same time, not surprising. For someone who had been attracted to Kylo Ren, there had to be a dark side to her.

"I'll ask again. Who sent you, why is there a bounty on me?" Anya asked once more.

"The job comes from a man named Gradoo! Said you swindled him for a ship! Said you're a wanted First Order official." He said.

"Damn." Finn said.

"I'm calling Lando." Rey said, before leaving.

"Gradoo sold me my ship, everything is on the up and up. As far as being a wanted First Order Official, that part is wrong... I'm not wanted." Anya calmly said.

"Then why would he put out a bogus bounty on you?" The bounty hunter asked.

"Did you even bother to do any research about me?" Anya said, rolling her eyes. She released the man of his restraints, confident he wouldn't attack. The man fumbled in his clothes and looked at his datapad. It didn't take long.

"Oh. My. Stars. You're.... you're that woman! The Mistress of Ren!" the hunter said.

"Yep... now... do I sound like someone who you want to mess with? The woman who used to have the likes Kylo Ren wrapped around her finger? Wouldn't that mean I'm quite terrifying?"

"No... no ma'am!" The young hunter stammered, clearly terrified.

"Return to your employer or guild, tell them I'm not a bounty worth risking your life for." Anya said, releasing the bounty hunter fully. The man jumped up and ran for the nearest exit.

***

By the end of the night Lando had called back and informed them that Gradoo had been apprehended and the bounty officially called off. This would only be a slight hiccup on their journey. The ship was soon repaired and the mechanic paid in full. Anya sat silently in the lounge area as Poe piloted the ship off of Tatooine. Rey sat down next to her and gave her a comforting look.

"Are you ok?" Rey asked.

"Yeah. I didn't realize all this would happen." Anya responded.

"I know. Crazy things always tend to happen when you hang with us." Rey said.

"You should have told me that from the beginning!" Anya said with a laugh.

"Well we wouldn't want to scare you away!!!"

"True!" Anya said with a laugh. Rey fumbled though her belongings and took out Luke and Leia's lightsabers, setting them before Anya.

"If we are successful, Ben will get Luke's saber... and Finn had the idea that one day Nora might use Leia's." Rey said, pushing the rose gold saber towards Anya.

"What was she like?" Anya asked, picking up the feminine saber in her hand.

"I'll tell you." Rey said.

***

Hey guys!!!!! Hope you like this chapter! We are getting there!!!! I cant believe how many new readers I have, I know it isn't much compared to much more popular stories, but I truly am tickled by each and every one of you reading my story. I hope you are enjoying Anya as a character. I wanted to write my own original character because I couldn't identify with any new sequel characters from the franchise. I firmly believe that a strong female lead doesn't need to be rough and tough *OR* feminine and dainty, I strongly believe that there can be room for a character to be BOTH. I really hope that through my writing I am able to convey that through Anya.

Xoxo.


	14. Aftermath

_34 ABY The morning after the Ball- Kylo Ren's Perspective_

Kylo's arm stretched out his arm onto the bed, he was certain he would feel Anya's presence, instead he only felt the cold and empty spot were her body once lay. Kylo shot straight up in bed. There was no sign of her in the bedroom at all. Her dress was gone, so were her shoes. He got out of the bed, his feet loudly hitting the floor. He felt this inexplicable sensation of dread flow over him.

He pushed open the bathroom door, but she was not inside, he went out into the lounge of his suite, she was not there either. She was nowhere in his room. Quickly he dressed himself and left his room, walking at an unusually quick pace, almost breaking the elevator buttons as he aggressively pressed him. He tried to maintain control of his breathing, but he knew. Deep down he knew. He couldn't feel her anymore. Her steady, calm presence nowhere to be found.

He pushed open the door to her hotel room, only to be met with all six of his knights and General Pryde. So there it was. The confirmation he needed: She was gone.

"Where is she?" Kylo said, trying to remain uncharacteristically calm.

"She left, just before dawn." Pryde said in a soothing tone. The sound that left Kylo's lungs was more like a hiss of pain. Kylo's fists were balled together, he could feel it coming, the anger, the fury. All at once he went to lunge out towards Pryde, but his Knights blocked him. It took all 6 of them to restrain him. Kylo was the Master of The Knights of Ren, they took orders from him, but they also were obedient servants of Snoke. Their presence and their protection of Pryde meant that Snoke also knew that Anya had left.

All at once, the fury and rage left Kylo and all that was left was a mournful pain. A sorrow in which he could not outwardly describe. His heart literally felt like it was ripped in two. He collapsed to his knees, his knights still holding him, now this time, less aggressively and more... consolingly? He felt a pat on his shoulder, he looked up, it was Vicrul.

Even though Kylo was their Master, he was the youngest. The six men had previously served another master, living a nomadic lifestyle, pillaging, doing as they pleased, and taking as many lovers as they pleased. Each man had his own story to tell, each man also experiencing this pain at least once in their lives. Vicrul was the second youngest, and Kylo knew his story of the little assassin girl he had once been enthralled with. Kylo sensed a feeling of sympathy coming from the Knight.

Collecting himself, he stood back up and shrugged his knights off. They still stood, ready to protect the General. He hadn't realized until that moment he had started crying. What a blubbering fool he must have looked like.

"Where did she go?" Kylo softly asked.

"I don't know. Truly." Pryde responded. A million questions flowed through Kylo's mind, yet he could not utter them. Despite the presence of seven other men, the room still smelled like her. Through the bedroom door he saw her clothes scattered on the bed, a pair of shoes by the door, and a half finished bottle of wine on the coffee table. It was as if she was planning to come back at any moment.

"Why?" Kylo asked after everlasting moments of silence.

"That only she truly knows. I can assure you... it probably was the hardest decision she ever made." Pryde said. Kylo stepped forward, his knights hovering him closely. Kylo motioned for Pryde to step forward. Lifting his hand, Kylo probed Pryde's mind with the force. The general allowed him to do so; he had expected as much, there was no use fighting it.

Kylo saw Pryde's last memories of Anya. What she wore, the words she said, how she looked, how genuinely heartbroken she was. Kylo saw that Pryde was truly innocent and that he didn't know where his niece was, he also knew that Anya's father wouldn't know where she went either.

Kylo dropped his hand, an utter look of defeat on his face. He hung his head, turned, and exited the room. He made the slow trek back to his room where he remained until it was time to report back to the Finalizer.

***

Kylo struggled to keep his focus for several days after returning to the Finalizer. Anya had kept him balanced, on "the right track"... Snoke's words. The Captain's abrupt departure was a disappointment to be sure, to Snoke, but the dark teacher took the opportunity to turn it into a learning lesson for his student.

"Now you know the perils of attachments. They can strengthen you, or they can destroy you. Never allow yourself to become attached again, I see now that you are too weak to handle it." Snoke sneered at him.

"Never again master." Kylo responded. Kylo barely had enough time to properly mourn Anya's departure before he received word of the existence of a map leading him to Skywalker. He threw himself into that quest, it thrusting him into a journey he never thought he would end up on. He did things he that thought would help him completely devote himself to The Dark Side, but it only made things more complicated, and left him filled with regret.

He also came face to face with the girl. The scavenger girl from Jakku, the girl who quickly became a thorn in his side. In less than two months, he found himself confused beyond belief about his purpose in the galaxy, his path when it came to the force, and the meaning of his new found shadow that haunted him: the girl. It was only after he was proclaimed Supreme Leader officially several weeks after the battle of Crait that he found himself alone in his rooms when the memory of Anya flooded back to him.

He missed her touch, her voice, her hair, her scent, her skin, her lips, her entire being. He missed her. He felt like a damn fool. He even felt embarrassed because for a brief, fleeting moment, he mistook the force bond that he shared with the scavenger girl as the same thing he shared with Anya. It was not the same. There would be no one else like Anya.

Kylo finally allowed himself to really break down. He cried, screamed, and yelled. In a fit of rage he punched the metal wall of his bedroom until a large dent formed, the gloves on his hands tore, and his knuckles were bloodied. He had worked himself to the point of exhaustion. Stumbling to the floor he lay there like a blubbering mess.

This could not be.

Kylo pulled himself up and ordered that his ship be prepared. As he had done dozens of times before, he flew out to The Oasis, hoping that maybe just maybe someone there knew. Upon his arrival, several officers whom he recognized greeted him.

"What do you know of Captain Harrow's whereabouts?" Kylo demanded.

"Nothing sir. She departed The Oasis for the command ball, she never returned. We haven't even received news of her replacement." The officer said. Kylo sighed and marched his way towards her rooms. The doors opened just as they always had for him, and inside he found the space untouched and abandoned. There was a find layer of dust over everything, a bouquet of flowers sat rotting in their vase in the corner.

Kylo went into her bedroom, removing his helmet, he sat down on her bed. Even the calmness that just her room had once brought him was now gone. He used to be able to walk into this room and feel peace, now it was just like he was in a random room. No peace. He slumped over and held his head in his hands.

Kylo Ren had been in love with Anya Harrow... true genuine love... and he never got the chance to really tell her. He never allowed himself to address the feelings or even accept them until this very moment; and now she was gone. He would have made her empress. She could have retired from the Order and he would have set her up in a palace on any planet of her choosing. He would have had her at his side, as his co-ruler, his equal. He would have ended the war if she deemed it so.

He stood up and walked towards her wall of pictures where he saw a portrait of her as a baby with her parents.

He would have had babies with her if she wanted, as many as she wanted.

Now he'll never know. He wasn't angry with her. He didn't feel betrayal. Only heartbreak. He could never be angry with her or upset with her. Even at that very moment with his heart absolutely shattered to a million pieces, she was still perfect in his eyes, no matter where she was. He didn't blame her for making the decision to leave. What hurt him the most was why she hadn't come forward yet. Here he was, the Supreme Leader now, she could come out of hiding, Snoke was no more. Yet she didn't.

He took down once picture off the wall, her official First Order portrait, he tucked it into his cloak, and he left the rooms.

"I want all of Captain Harrow's books in her library packed up and sent to me on the Finalizer." Kylo dictated at the first officer he saw on the Oasis. He left the station... never to return.

Kylo Ren went and did the only thing he knew would make himself "feel" better:

He took his rage and frustration out on The Resistance and Rebels in the Galaxy.

Yet despite trying to forget, he could not. He caught fleeting thoughts from Hux calling Anya a whore and a slut. Names Kylo would never dream of calling Anya. So he demoted him. Instead, making Pryde Allegiant General. Hoping, just maybe, Anya would hear of it and come back; but she did not. The act was a huge snub to Hux. A constant reminder to the general that Kylo truly had gotten everything that he once desired. Hux hated Kylo with a passion.

***

Kylo felt a warm breeze on his skin. He opened his eyes and was looking up at a blue sky. He was laying in tall grass. When he rose, he saw a lake and a villa in the distance. As he stood he caught sight of a woman standing by the shore. Her back was to him, her hair was much longer, and she was dressed in a long flowing pink gown, yet he knew that figure anywhere. It was Anya. He took off into a sprint.

As he got closer to her, he saw a fleet of Star Destroyers come out of hyperspace and enter the planet's orbit. He saw Anya run from the shore of the lake towards the villa, but he could not run fast enough after her. It was like the distance between them was growing further and further apart. He saw a fleet of TIE fighters enter the planet's atmosphere, he saw a large shuttle come into view. It was coming for the Villa. He reached the building just as the shuttle touched down. He had lost sight of Anya.

The scene shifted and he was standing in a room he had never been in before, it was a library or lounge of sorts. Cowering in a corner was a group of people, all dressed similarly. Maids and servants no doubt. They huddled together, crying, hugging each other. At the center of the group was Anya, terror and fear in her eyes. In her arms she clutched what appeared to be a bundle of blankets to her chest. He saw terror flood all of their faces, he turned and saw a team of Storm troopers had entered the room, their blasters pointed at them.

"Stand down!" He ordered, but it was as if they could not see or hear him.

"I said stand down!" He ordered again, yet they aimed and fired. Once the screams and blasts and smoke died down, Kylo heard the shrill cry of an infant. Yet when he turned to face the bodies, instead he saw a sinister cloaked figure.

Palpatine.

Kylo awoke in a cold sweat. It had all been a dream. His heart was racing. It was then that he heard a loud banging on his door. He kicked off the blankets that covered him and marched his way to the doors with his Lightsaber clutched in his hand.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, Sir." A terrified officer said.

"What is it?"

"We have intercepted a mysterious broadcast. It makes claims that Emperor Palpatine lives.... sir." The nervous officer said.

"Ready my ship." Kylo ordered.


	15. To The Unknown

Anya stared out the glass in the cockpit, utterly zoned out and lost in her thoughts. The others chatted around her, completely oblivious to the anxiety she was inducing upon herself. They had decided to land the ship on a large asteroid in an asteroid field so that they could sleep for a few hours before making the rest of the journey.

"Hey... what's up with Anya?" Finn noted, seeing Anya just gazing off into space and having a glossy look over her eyes.

"I don't know." Rey said, getting up and going towards Anya.

"Hey." She softly said.

"Hey." Anya said, snapping back into reality. Her eyes had become wide and glossy, as if she was trying to not cry.

"Are you ok?" Rey asked.

"I just need to go lay down." Anya said, getting up and making her way towards one of the bunk rooms. Anya tried to avoid eye contact with Finn and Poe as she passed them.

Safe and alone inside of her bunk room, she allowed a few tears to fall. This was it. They were on their way to Exegol, they were going to attempt to bring him back. She hadn't really allowed it to sink in, the gravity of it all. Growing up within the First Order did that to a person. It was practically taught how to compartmentalize one's emotions or even be unfeeling. Anya was never the unfeeling type. She felt, and she felt a lot. Her weakness was that she sometimes compartmentalized things and the weight of it all slowly kept up on her.

Anya reached up and pulled her hair out of the two braids she had it in. The braids had become tight and were pulling at her scalp, causing a headache. She let out a sigh of relief as her hair fell. A million questions swarmed her thoughts. She was full of doubt and reluctance now about the situation. After a while, there was a light tapping on the door to the small bunk room. It was Rey.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Rey asked.

"No; but I'll be fine." Anya said, Rey wouldn't have it. She pushed Anya aside and made herself comfortable on the edge of Anya's bed.

"Is it from the fight in the Cantina? It can be rough your first time in a fight like that..." Rey began.

"No... I've been in fights like that before... don't ask." Anya said with a chuckle.

"Oh... gotcha. Well..." Rey went to start. Anya thought of Moira in that moment, all the times Moira was a guiding hand to her, someone who would comfort her in her times of mental and emotional stress. "You need to learn that it's ok to talk things out" Moira would say.

"It's just... What if we are successful? What if he comes back and wants nothing to do with me? What if he's angry with me? What if I hurt him beyond repair by leaving? What if he never cared at all about me? What if..." Anya started bubbling forth.

"Woah... woah... slow down there." Rey said, reaching out to her.

"I'm sorry." Anya said, sitting down next to her.

"Don't be sorry... those are all legitimate concerns."

"I just... I don't know why it's all hitting me right now; all at once. I had been fully resolved to just keep living life as I had. Just me and Nora..... That's another thing, what if he comes back and wants nothing to do with Nora? I couldn't exactly keep her a secret still, not from him, not now."

"It's a lot of change, and all at once. You strike me as the type of person who likes to be in control of things. You like to see an issue and know exactly how you're going to solve it." Rey said.

"Yes! Exactly! When I left him, I made that choice on my own and did what I needed to do for me. I left because I couldn't wait around for the off chance Snoke would be taken out, at the time it seemed impossible. When I realized I was pregnant, I just took it a day at a time, planning out how I wanted everything to go. With this, I don't feel like I can plan anything, or have control of anything."

"I understand."

"What scares me the most is the possibility of him just being so upset with me, or... not even caring." Anya said, wrapping her arms around herself and holding herself for comfort. Rey reached out and put a comforting hand on Anya's back.

"I don't think that would happen. I don't think he's going to be upset with you, and I think he is going to care." Rey softly said.

"How can you sound so sure?"

"Well... he and I are a Dyad, and I like you, I think you're awesome and I totally understand why he fell for you. So that has to count for something. Also, didn't he give you that ring?" Rey said, pointing to the ring on Anya's finger.

"Yes."

"So he cared. He cared enough to go out of his way to get you something special."

"I suppose so."

"We are just going to have to wait and see about all the rest. If we are successful, it's not going to be easy... for us, or him. It's a lot of change. The galaxy is a different place than it was 3 years ago. We just need to trust that we are doing the right thing and that The Force is with us." Rey said. To that Anya sighed and began to relax. Everything was going to be ok. She just needed to keep telling herself that. She needed to not work herself up and just trust in the flow of things. Rey hugged Anya and the two said goodnight.

Anya was really beginning to appreciate Rey as a friend. Rey had this sisterliness about her that Anya appreciated. Rey too appreciated Anya. She meant what she said when she said she thought Anya was awesome. In fact, Rey often thought about how much Leia would have loved Anya.

***

The flight to Exegol wasn't any smoother than it was the first time they had done it... of course it was not Anya's first time, she had no idea what to expect. The ship jerked around and hit debris before it came though and they saw it. The dark planet.

"So where exactly do we need to go?" Poe asked.

"Back where everything happened, the arena." Rey said. As they flew, they saw that the surface of the planet with littered with the debris of dozens and dozens of Final Order star destroyers. There was smoke still in the air as slow fires burned still in the wreckage from the fuel that no doubt still leaked from the destroyed ships. Everyone sat in silence as they looked at the carnage around them. The true destruction that the final battle had caused.

"I know this place." Anya said.

"Your dream?" Rey asked.

"Yes." She responded. Poe did a full fly over of the area to try and find a place that was safe to land. As they passed, Rey looked down and saw a singular TIE fighter, parked just where it had been left when the final battle was waged. The ceiling of the arena where everything happened was still open to the sky. Poe carefully maneuvered the ship and brought it down to land right in the middle of the destroyed arena. This was it.

"Now what?" Poe asked, breaking the nervous silence that was in the air.

"We figure out how to open a portal." Finn said. The ship powered down and they disembarked the ship, their feet crunching under the rubble, the scent of smoke in the air... and something else.

"What is that smell!?" Poe said, coughing a bit.

"Death." Anya said, pointing to the slumped, caved in, and decaying carcass of a praetorian guard.

"Shit." Poe said, feeling a queasiness grow in his stomach.

"There's going to be many more. Watch were you're walking." Rey said. As they passed the body, they saw that the armor the guard once wore had been torn away, like something ripped it to shreds. A creature maybe, but it was not known if there were any living life forms remaining on Exegol.

They approached the large, destroyed throne, and Rey paused, looking up at it with wide, nervous eyes. She thought back to that fateful day. The day everything changed, including herself.

"We'll try here first." Rey said, Finn agreed.

"You two go wait with the ship." Finn said to Poe and Anya. Turning they walked away, careful of what surrounded them. Anya felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, a sixth sense almost. She jumped to her right, certain something had been watching them, but nothing was there.

"You good?" Poe asked.

"Yeah... it's just creepy." She responded.

"While they do their thing, we should take a look around, make sure things are secure."

"I agree."

***

Finn and Rey sat on the ground facing each other, both in their meditation stances. Rey was nervous to be sure. The Sith were no more, but darkness still persisted, especially here. She had fought her fight against darkness and won, but she worried for Finn.

"I'll be fine." Finn said, sensing her nervousness.

"We just need to be careful. Especially here."

"The force is the force. We just need to let it flow, let it guide us. It will show us the way." Finn said. They began slowly and cautiously at first. Closing their eyes, their knees touching. Finn felt Rey's force signature closely, Rey felt his. They reached outwards of themselves trying to connect, to reach for something they had never seen or touched before. Neither of them knew what they were searching for, but they had to try.

All at once they felt a shift. They both opened their eyes, but were taken a back to see that they were facing themselves. It was like they were looking into a mirror. Except their eyes were open and their reflection's eyes were closed. Rey looked down at her hands and saw that she glowed blue, she looked at Finn and he too glowed. It was the same glow that a force ghost had.

"What is this!?" Rey asked.

"It's like we are out of our bodies." Finn assessed, "We are here, but we aren't there." He said, pointing to where his body still sat in meditation.

"Very good assessment." Another voice said, Finn and Rey both jumped and turned around. They faced an older man with long hair, a beard, and dressed in Jedi robes.

"Who are you?" Rey asked.

"I am Qui-gon Jin, a former Jedi Master." The man said.

"I have heard that name before!" Rey said.

"I am sure you have. I was Obi-wan Kenobi's jedi master."

"So what is goin on here?" Finn asked.

"Your physical bodies are in the physical world, but your Force is now on the other side. You have one foot in each world. Why are you here?" He asked.

"We have come to free our friend, Ben Solo, from The In Between, or The World Between Worlds." Rey said.

"Ahh, that is what I had hoped. For balanced to be truly restored, he must be freed."

"Yeah we know that. How do we do it!?" Finn asked.

"Follow me." Qui-gon said.

"Will our bodies be alright?" Rey asked, looking back at herself sitting on the ground. As she looked back, two other Force Ghosts appeared, ones she did not recognize and they did not speak.

"No harm will come to you, now come." Qui-gon said, indicating that the two others would guard their bodies.

***

Anya and Poe wandered a distance away from the ship. Poe had his blaster in hand and Anya had hers. Anya still couldn't shake the feeling that something or someone was watching them. They walked down a dark corridor until they came to another group of bodies and they were hit in the face with the pungent smell of decay.

"The Knights of Ren..." Anya said.

"Did you know them?"

"No... well one brought me a drink once. That was it. They really didn't do much but just stand around." Anya said as they walked around the bodies. They noted, that much like the first body they saw, these too looked like they had been ravaged and torn apart. Surly whatever battle they were in hadn't done that much damage?

"Do you get the feeling something is watching us?" Anya whispered to Poe.

"Nah... it's just a creepy place."

"Like... the bodies. They don't look normal." Anya said.

"How do you expect two year old dead bodies to look?"

"I've seen death and wounds after battles. Blaster wounds don't tear apart bodies like that. Something else is here."

"Are you saying something... ate them?" Poe questioned

"Yes." Anya said, just then, from behind Poe, Anya saw a dark shadow shift. She gasped and fired her blaster in that direction. Something was definitely there, and it was following them.

"Let's get back to the ship!" Poe said. They went to turn, but standing between them and their path towards the ship was a dark figure. The figure was cloaked and covered in rags, almost indistinguishable. Everything happened so quickly, out from behind the rubble other sprung forth, grabbing Poe and Anya before they could fire their weapons. Hands grabbed at them, fists punched Poe int he gut, doubling him over in pain. Anya tried to scream, but boney hands covered her mouth. Soon, a cloth covered Anya face and her mouth was gagged. She tried to fight, she tried to get free, but it was no use. Hands grabbed at her ankles, arms, and body, and she was dragged away.

Poe was beaten and kicked until he complied. He too was gagged and blindfolded. The dark figures carrying them away, out of the area, to an Unknown.

***

Hey! Hope you're still enjoying! I want to say here that I am not well versed in Star Wars lore. I try my best, I know that this isn't exactly how "The World Between Worlds" works. I just wanted to let my imagination get carried away, and I wanted to let you guys come along with me! So how I really envisioned this part to work was similar to Avatar The Last Airbender, when Aang goes into the spirit world but his body is left behind. So think of Finn and Rey like that right now! Again, I know this isn't canon compliant, but I still hopped it is enjoyable!!!

Any who, I hope you're enjoying!!!!


	16. The Crystal Rooms

**TW: This chapter might be intense for some, I know it was intense for me to write. Please let me know how you're feeling in the comments. Xoxo.**

The wise Jedi master silently led Finn and Rey through the halls of the dilapidated fortress. It felt like they were descending into the depths of the fortress, going deep underground. Rey and Finn would occasionally ask Qui-gon a question, he usually replied in simple answers, or nothing at all.

They were led down a narrow and dark hallway that eventually opened up into a breathtaking cavern made entirely of Kyber Crystal. The whole cavern was a mix of red, black, blue, white, yellow... every color imaginable. Rey didn't know that so many colors could exist. Both she and Rey knew that it was the force that they wielded that determined the color of their saber, they had no idea these colors existed naturally as well.

"This planet is one of a few that are particularly strong with the Force. It is due to the wealth of Kyber that resides here. This is just one of many Crystal Rooms here on this planet." Qui-gon said.

"This is amazing." Rey said, walking around in awe.

"The Force is exponentially strong here. It is why Palpatine and the Sith Cultists chose this particular spot to hide away and build their next empire. It is here you will be able to open up a gateway into the In Between."Qui-gon stated.

"How do we open it now?" Finn asked.

"The same way you got here, you must reach out. You have one foot in the physical world and one in the Force, so you have the unique ability to go even further; but you must be cautious." He said seriously.

"Cautious?" Rey asked.

"Time is distorted in the In Between. You will hear things, see things, and feel things from the past that may be uncomfortable for you. You two must stay together at all times, and you must remember that what you hear has already happened, do not linger on those memories, and do not try to change the past. To find Ben Solo you must ignore those memories, push through, call to him, he will come." He cautioned. Rey and Finn looked at each other nervously before nodding to each other and finding a comfortable spot on the cavern floor.

"I will be here when you return." Qui-gon said as the two began their meditation. The shift happened more effortlessly this time, when hey opened their eyes it was like they were standing in a dark abyss. There was neither a floor nor a sky, yet they stood. There was no light, yet they could see. Finn immediately reached out to Rey's hand and held it.

"We do not let go of each other." He ordered her. Finn knew Rey, he knew her heart and her mind, and if she heard something from her past, it would be in her nature to chase after it. They heard silence at first.

"BEN!!!" Rey yelled out. Her voice echoed. Then there was a response.

"My baby!!! Don't take my baby!"

"Your baby is to serve the First Order!"

"Please no!" The voices echoed. Rey turned to Finn, this was something from his past. The voice of his mother pleading.

"Ignore it." Finn sternly said, blinking away tears. He gripped Rey's hand tightly, so tight that she was losing feeling in her fingers. They began to move, taking turns calling out Ben's name.

"It's over Anakin! I have the high ground!" They heard. Still they kept moving.

"Anakin... you're breaking my heart!" They heard a soft feminine voice say.

"BEN!!!!" Rey said louder, struggling to ignore the voices. She wanted to explore, she wanted to see what memories those voices were attached to, but she knew she should not.

Rey and Finn walked further into the nothingness that was this mysterious space within the Force. They firmly grasped each other's hands, refusing to let each other go as they traversed the space, calling out to Ben Solo, but hearing nothing in return. The sounds and voices from times past grew louder. Rey heard Palpatine's voice, then the voice of her mother. Finn heard the loud shouts from the voices of his former commanding officers within the First Order, he shuttered at the sound of Phasma's voice ordering him. The memories flooded back to each of them. Uncomfortable memories. Memories that triggered an upheaval of emotions.

The voices and memories slurried around them, almost crippling them. With their hands still grasped together, they knelt down. Both of them in tears. It was beginning to be too much. They were both fighting, fighting to not chase after what they heard. One last time they called out to Ben, and through the darkness they heard it. A faint cry for help.

"Rey! Here! I'm here!"

It was Ben.

***

Anya was thrown into a dark, damp, and cold room. Cloth still covering her eyes and a gag in her mouth. She had long been separated from Poe. Where he was taken she did not know. She heard his voice fade as they were dragged away. Her hands were bound behind her back, her ankles tied together. She was unable to move, unable to speak, and unable to see. She laid in the dark and just tried to calm her nerves.

She could smell the faint and distinct odor of ship fuel and oil. She allowed herself to focus on that smell, it was comforting to her. For a moment she felt stupid reminiscing based solely on a smell, but it was all she could do to stay calm given the situation. She thought of Nora first, then she thought of Rey and Finn. Had they reached him yet? Anya curled herself up into a little ball on the ground. The smell of the fuel and oil bringing back a particular memory she had of him.

_It was only a few days before The Finalizer arrived to whisk Kylo back to Starkiller Base and the rest of the First Order. It had also been nearly two and a half weeks since the Solar Storm. Since the storm they had spent every single night together. Kylo could have continued to explore the unexplored planets, but instead he found himself wanting to stay on board the Oasis, always near where Anya was._

_He had started to take a particular interest in the work of the Mechanics aboard the Oasis. In another life, perhaps, he might have been a simple pilot or mechanic. The mechanics on The Oasis really were the best he had seen within the First Order, he was convinced of that after seeing how they repaired his ship. So he decided to just watch them work, eventually rolling his sleeves... literally... and beginning to work along side them._

_Anya's eyes were glued to her datapad as she walked into hangar 3 late one afternoon. It had been an unusually busy day with a ship in just about every hangar, she hadn't seen Kylo since that morning. In Hangar 3, a simple freighter ship was in for navigational equipment repairs, as well as electrical issues._

_Anya looked up from her datapad expecting to see 3 of her mechanics hard at work on the ship, instead she saw Kylo Ren, in his leather pants, undershirt, and boots, with the rest of his clothes piled in a heap on the work bench. He was covered in sweat, had grease and oil splattered all over his arms and smudged on his face, and he was knelt down with a wrench in his hand as he strained to unlock a bolt on the underside of the ship, his biceps and veins in his arm fully flexing. The sight of him like that just about made her jaw drop to the floor and her eyes pop out of her head._

_"Ma'am." One of her mechanics said, bringing her back to reality._

_"How's the progress on this ship?" Anya said after clearing her throat._

_"All is well. The Commander is quite skilled with navigation systems, he insisted on helping today." Her mechanic said._

_"I see that. Very well. I'm just making my rounds." She said, feeling a blush rise to her cheeks. Anya walked away from her mechanic and towards Kylo._

_"Captain." He said, standing up, wrench still in one hand, and his other going up to push his hair out of his face. As he did so his undershirt rode up revealing the very lower part of his stomach. Anya made a point to drink up the sight of him in that very moment, allowing her eyes to slowly gaze up from his feet to his face._

_"Commander." She said in a low tone only loud enough for him to hear. She was extremely turned on by the sight of him in that state, and he could tell too. Her cheeks and ears were pink and the blush continued down her neck, he could hear how uneven her breathing had become, as well as how wide and dilated her eyes were. He like what he was seeing too. She was in one of her white uniforms, the crispness of the fabric a stark contrast to the grease and oil splattering his skin. If he were to reach out and touch her, he would no doubt leave a greasy handprint on her._

_"I'll be retiring soon. Will need to clean up before dinner." He said. She didn't say anything in response, she just arched one eyebrow before biting her bottom lip and making a point to look him up and down one more time before turning on her heel and leaving the hangar._

_Anya had to finish up her rounds before going back to her rooms. When she did, she found that Kylo had already beat her there and was undressing in the fresher with the shower already running. She kicked her heels off and stood against the fresher doorframe and watched as he peeled the soiled undershirt from his skin. Using the soiled shirt he wiped his face before looking at her._

_"Come here." He said. Anya took the few steps into the bathroom until she was inches away from him._

_"Turn around." She complied, very carefully Kylo unzipped her uniform with the force and pushed it off her skin until it pooled around her ankles. As much as he wanted to leave greasy handprints all over that dress, he knew it would undoubtably raise questions once the dress went to the laundry department. He next unclasped her bra and slid her panties down to her ankles._

_Anya watched in the mirror as he unbuckled his pants and pushed them along with his underwear to his feet, freeing his erect member. His hands next found her waist and he pulled her to him, her ass pressed against his cock. He slowly thrusted against her, noting how the grease on his skin was leaving marks on her clean body._

_Anya looked down and saw his hands on her stomach firmly holding her against him. They were filthy, his fingernails caked with grease and grime, and the calluses on his hands stained a dirty blackish brown. For some odd reason, this turned her on. She leaned her head back and couldn't help but release a moan._

_"You like seeing me dirty and covered in oil and grease don't you?" He crooned into her ear._

_"Yes. I do." She said, noting how wet and uncomfortable she had been since the moment she saw him working in that hangar. With his hands at her hips he spun her around and then lifted her up, wrapping her legs around his waist and then sinking himself balls deep into her. She let out a deep guttural moan of pleasure. Her eyelids fluttering and her eyes rolling back in her head. The feeling of him inside her was surreal._

__

_Carrying her, he stepped into the shower, their bodies passing though the water. He pressed her against the tile in the shower, the water cascading down them, mixing with the dirt and grease on Kylo's skin and pouring onto Anya. He began to fuck her senseless, the smell of fuel, oil, and sweat intoxicating Anya's mind and lungs._

A loud bang brought Anya back to reality. She heard footsteps enter the room and soon hands were on her, lifting her up and pushing her down on to a chair. Her feet were unbound but then quickly retied to the legs of the chair, her arms were still behind her back. Hands reached up and pulled the gag out of her mouth.

"Who are you!?" Anya said. She could sense that there were multiple people in the room. She heard the sound of shuffling feet and then the door closing again. Was she alone? She could not tell, her eyes still covered. She heard something in the darkness, something that indicated to her that there was still someone present with her.

"When they said they saw a ship... you were last person I would ever think to be on it." The voice said. It was a familiar voice to her, and once her mind registered who the voice belonged to, Anya's heart began to race with panic and fear.

"Hux?"

***

Finn and Rey felt a shift again, the voices and memories faded into silence, and far in the distance they saw him. Ben. Rey leaped to her feet, still holding on to Finn and raised her other hand in the air.

"BEN!!!!!" She called out. Finn rose too and raised his other hand. From far away, Ben Solo began to run towards them.

"Well what are we waiting for!?" Finn said, pulling Rey and beginning their run towards him. It felt like they were running for miles and miles. As they all ran towards each other, the force began to hum. Finally they reached each other, Rey letting go of Finn for the first time and crashing into Ben with an embrace.

"It's you! You're here!" Rey said.

"It's me!" He said, hugging her back. The Dyad was reunited once again, and it could be felt through the Force around them. Finn stood awkwardly to the side, but still with a smile on his face. He was not jealous, nor did he have any negatives feelings towards Ben Solo. He had worked hard, for Rey's sake, to work on such feelings.

"Come here!" Finn said, once Rey let go of Ben, and Finn too pulled Ben into an embrace. The act of kindness confused Ben, remembering still the awful things he had done and said about the former Stormtrooper. Ben could sense that Finn's feelings of happiness were genuine, and Ben raised his arms and hugged Finn back.

"I cant believe we did it." Rey said, hugging both men at the same time.

"How did you figure it out?" Ben asked.

"I had help from some friends." Rey said.

"We shouldn't linger here much longer, we need to head back to the Crystal Room." Finn said. Rey took Finn's hand in one hand and Ben's in the other. Together, they sat down and went into a meditation. It took effort from Finn and Rey, they felt slightly weakened by the excursion, but they were able to pull Ben from The In Between. When they opened their eyes, Qui-gon Jinn stood before them.

"Welcome back Master Solo.... well.... almost." He said with a chuckle.

***

The blindfold was pulled off of Anya's eyes, she blinked in confusion as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting. They were in a room made entirely out of crystal. From the ceiling, light came in through a hole, and covering that hole was a heavy metal grate. Anya couldn't believe her eyes.

Standing before her, frailer than he once was, stood Armitage Hux. His hair was long, and frazzled, and an unkept beard grew on his face. He was dressed in the rags of various pieces of First Order and Final Order uniforms, pieced crudely together, and he supported himself using a cane. In some ways, he was a changed man.

"You're alive!?" Anya said, almost cheerfully.

"I am... survived my the skin of my teeth."

"How?"

"In a nut shell... I leaked information to the Resistance in an effort to take down Kylo Ren. Your uncle figured it out and shot me in an attempt to kill me, but I was wearing a blast vest under my uniform. They locked me in the Medbay and I was stranded there when the ship went down." He said.

"Are there others?" Anya asked.

"Initially... there were nearly two thousand survivors, but then infection, disease, and sickness set in. Now there are only about one hundred of us left. Why are you here?" He asked.

"I came with friends, the jedi girl and..."

"The Resistance scum? So you left and joined the other side?" He said.

"No! That's not what happened!" Anya defended.

"Then how did you link up with the likes of them? We have Dameron locked away in another cell, depending on how you answer will determine his fate!" He spat, trying to reach within himself to pull out his old ruthless personality. Yet as the words left his mouth, he couldn't help but feel like a fraud.

"It has to do with The Force and Jedi stuff. I don't fully expect you to understand."

"You're right. All that mystical shit is tiresome to me."

"We can get you an the other survivors out of here if you let us go."

"And why should I trust you? You're just a traitorous slut." He spat at her in anger. The words stung Anya. As annoyed as she used to be at Hux, she had no ill feelings towards him. Had the situation been different, maybe she would have even liked him.

"I would never think so poorly of you, and you know damn well I am no traitor." She said in a small voice. Hux shook his head and looked down at his feet. He was trying to be angry with her, but the anger was misplaced. He was indeed a changed man. His failure within the First Order had humbled him, and his time marooned on Exegol had forced him to reconsider his place in the galaxy. They had lost the war, he had lost the war, and he had come to terms with it all, throwing himself into a leadership roll once more in an effort to help keep the survivors alive.

"I'm sorry." He said after a few moments of silence. His head hug low and Anya began to see the extent of just how broken Armitage Hux had become.

"I was never your enemy, and I will never be your enemy. Things were just complicated. You and I are very different people than what we once were. Now can you please untie me?" She asked. Hux knew she was right. He bent down and untied her feet and hands, steadying himself with his cane. He almost stumbled and Anya reached out to help steady him. Though the rags he wore, she could feel that he was nothing more than skin and bones.

"Sit." She said, getting up out of the chair. He sat down, almost breathless from the strain of standing.

"Do you really think you can get us off this damned planet?" He asked.

"I need to talk to Poe, Rey, and Finn. I'm sure we can figure something out." She said, putting her hand on his shoulder. The act of kindness softened Hux even more. He truly was a broken and humbled man now. Anya didn't know what to say next, before she could speak she heard a loud, shrill shriek and saw a dark shadow fly over the grate in the ceiling. Hux jumped up from his seat, an utter look of terror and fear in his eyes. He grabbed at Anya and pulled her next to him as he pressed against the wall. The shadow passed once more across the grate and then continued on.

"What was that!?" Anya whispered.

"We call them Shrillz. They are these large bat like, lizard wolf creatures. They came from underground. They started first by eating the flesh from the dead bodies, but then they started to hunt us down. They hunt in packs and they must have heard your ship fly in. We are safe in these crystal caves." Hux explained.

"Finn and Rey! They are in the arena, we have to get back to them." Anya said.

"Come with me." Hux said.

***

"Almost... what do you mean almost?" Rey asked Qui-gon.

"Remember, you still have one foot in the force realm and one in the physical. Ben, when you transferred your life force to save Rey you depleted all that you had left. It is going to take a great amount of energy to restore your physical form back in the physical world." Qui-ton said. Ben looked down at his feet.

"What if I don't want to go back to the physical world?" He said. Both Rey and Finn's hearts sunk.

"No... no... you have to come back with us." Finn said, grabbing Ben's arm.

"You have to. It's the only way to restore balance to the galaxy." Rey pleaded.

"I've done so many bad things. Where will I go? How will I live?" Ben asked.

"It will all be taken care of. You need to trust us!" Rey said.

"No one will have me." Ben said, tears welling up in his eyes.

"If you only knew..." Finn went to say, but he was interrupted by the sharp shrieking sound coming from a creature echoing through the crystal room. Qui-gon began to look around, fearful.

"Your friends are in danger. You must return." Qui-gon said sternly. Fear struck Rey and Finn as they thought of Anya and Poe... and for their physical bodies that still sat up in the arena.

"We have to go!" Rey said as another shriek echoed through the space. They all followed Qui-gon out of the room and back the way they came. Ben, however lingered. He didn't want to be trapped in the In Between, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to go back to the real world as well. He felt he was better off dead due to all the pain and destruction he had caused.

"Ben! Come on!" Rey said, turning and pulling him to walk faster. They could hear the mystery creatures screaming out to each other in the distance, and as they got closer to their starting point in the arena, it sounded like the creatures were getting closer as well.

Rey and Finn faced their bodies, still sitting in their meditative stances, and still guarded by the other two jedi. They turned to Qui-gon as if to search for answers. Now what? Now how do they permanently bring Ben back to the physical reality. Finn and Rey were still weak from bringing Ben back from the In Between, any further effort would substantially drain them, and in their current state of being in danger from approaching creatures, they could not risk it.

"Might we be of service?" A familiar voice said. They turned and standing before them was Luke, Leia, and Anakin Skywalker.

"Mom!" Ben said, rushing forward and pulling his mother into an embrace. They held each other for a while before breaking apart, Leia reaching up and touching his hair.

"My boy." She said through her tears.

"I'm sorry mom. I'm sorry for everything." Ben said, crying now.

"I'm sorry too. I'm sorry for not being understanding. I'm sorry for being afraid." She said. Ben then turned to his Uncle, who just smiled and nodded, he then turned to see the face of Anakin Skywalker, his grandfather.

"You and I never formally met. Palpatine made sure of that." Anakin said, reaching out to his grandson.

"So this... this is you?" Ben asked.

"This is me. Forgive me for not being strong enough to help you. Victims of the lies of the dark side we both were." Anakin responded.

"I see that now." Ben said. Another, loud shriek could be heard, this time much closer than before.

"We don't have much time left." Qui-gon said.

"How... how to we bring him back!?" Rey asked Luke and Leia. Luke turned to Leia and took her hand, Anakin too stepped forward and placed a hand on his son and daughter's shoulders.

"This could truly be the end for both of you." Leia said.

"What?" Finn asked.

"We will transfer the rest our life forces to Ben so that he may live." Luke said.

"But..." Rey went to begin.

"No but's. This must be our purpose." Luke said. Another shreik filled the area and they saw a large, hideous, and menacing creature flying overheard, circling Finn and Rey's bodies like prey.

"We do this now." Finn said, sitting down in front of himself. Rey too sat down, and without saying another word, so did Ben. They all began to meditate, Luke and Anakin put a hand of each of Ben shoulders. They all focused on their breathing and all in one powerful instant, Ben felt a strong shift. His eyes opened and he faced Finn and Rey. He was alive, physically there, and for the first time in what felt like forever, he felt oxygen fill his lungs.

***

Hux brought Anya to another crystal room cell, when the doors were opened, she saw Poe laying on the ground still gaged, blindfolded, and bound. Anya went right to work untying him, telling him that it was her and that they were leaving. When Poe stood up he came face to face with Hux.

"Holy shit." Poe said.

"Dameron." Hux said.

"How in the hell...?"

"Poe... there are survivors, about one hundred of them. We need to get them off Exegol." Anya said.

"I don't know how we can do that. Your ship will only carry so many people, plus it's treason that we are even here." Poe said to her.

"What is he talking about. I thought you were here for official Jedi stuff?" Hux asked.

"Jedi stuff.... but not official." Anya nervously said.

"You didn't tell him?" Poe asked.

"No."

"She didn't tell you?" Poe turned to Hux.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. All I know is we need to move quickly before a pack of Shrillz come."

"It doesn't matter right now. We need to get back to our ship and make a call to get these people rescued." Anya said to Poe. They began to walk through the crystal halls that the survivors had turned into a safe haven and a home. The hall opened up into a large space, where huddled around were the various men and women who have managed to survive so far.

"Seven hells..." Poe said, looking at all their malnourished faces.

"Gather what you can, gather whatever weapons you can, we are getting out of this hell." Hux commanded everyone. Hux led them to the entrance of the cave they had been hiding in. They had secured the entrance with metal from destroyed ships and even fashioned blasters for defense. Exiting the cave, they moved quickly to head back to the arena, the shrieks of the Shrillz hot on their heels. Poe and Anya had been given back their weapons, they clutched their blasters tightly as they walked their way back to the arena.

They were in the open and exposed. Everyone had a look of terror on their faces. The sounds of the Shrillz were getting closer by the second. Their screams filling the air and they sky. Hux looked behind them and saw a moving cloud black, it was the pack of Shrillz.

"RUN!!!!!" He shouted. Everyone ran off in a panic, heading towards the arena. The creatures came into view and they were horrifying. Their black webbed wings shook the air, they had fur around their necks but lizard like bodies. Their mouths were lined with rows of razor sharp teeth and they were massive. Anya and Poe stood close to Hux who struggled to keep up running, his leg was lame and he clutched at his abdomen in pain.

"I got you buddy!" Poe said, reaching out to Hux, throwing Hux's arm over his shoulder and supporting as much of his weight as he could. Anya kept them covered as the beasts descended on them. Screams pierced the air as the creatures attacked the innocent and practically helpless survivors. Blasters began firing into the air in defense. The Shrillz attacked fiercely, there were dozens of them and it felt like they were utterly outnumbered.

The group made it to the entrance to the arena and they just continued to run in terror towards Anya's ship. A few brave soles stayed back to fight off the creatures, but they quickly tore their way through, biting off limbs of the helpless, splattering blood and entrails everywhere, and starting their feast on human flesh.

"Go!!! Make contact with SOMEONE! Get them out of there!!!" Anya shouted to Poe, she jumped back, blasters in each hand and began firing at the Shrillz who no longer had room to fly in the tight hallway space, they began to claw and crawl their way forward. A wall of snarling teeth and claws facing her.

The group made it through the hallway and into the arena. Stumbling, screaming, and out of breath they worked forward and Shrillz began to descend the walls of the arena.

"Leave me!!! Get to the ship!" Hux said to Poe. Poe shoved his blaster into Hux's hands and began his sprint across the open space towards the ship. Sprinting toward him was Rey, Finn, and... Ben. Rey and Finn had their lightsabers ignited. They were looking all around trying to assess the situation.

"Benny boy! Welcome back." Poe said sprinting up to them.

"Who are these people!?" Finn screamed.

"First Order survivors!!! We have to get them out of here!" Poe said.

"Where's Anya!?" Rey asked

"Anya?" Ben said... shocked. It couldn't be, could it?

"She stayed back." Poe said, pointing towards the long corridor where the survivors were running from. Poe left and darted up the ramp of the ship. Once at the controls of the ship he made quick radio contact with Kaydel Ko Connix.

"DON'T ASK, JUST GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE WITH A MEDICAL SHIP AND A FEW X WINGS!" Poe screamed into the communicator.Survivors made it to the ship and began to scramble their way up the ramp, but there was no way the ship would be able to hold them all. Poe made the difficult decision to close the ramp and fire up the weapons of the ship, he made quick work of a group of Shrillz with the blasters of the ship, but they were descending on them like a swarm.

Down the long corridor, Anya shot her way through the Shrillz. She was the only defense between the creatures and a few defenseless survivors who slowly worked their way towards the arena. It felt helpless. Anya turned away from the wall of creatures that crawled towards her and just ran.

In the arena, Rey handed Ben the Skywalker Lightsaber. He immediately fired it up, and with the power of him, Rey, and Finn; they sliced their way through the creatures, defending the survivors as they huddled around the ship. From the ship Poe blasted and defended the arena. They were making progress, but still the creatures swarmed.

They watched as survivors ran out of the dark corridor, only the lights from blasters lighting up the space. By that point, Poe had secured the arena from his end, all that was left was the swarm that slowly made its way through the corridor. Rey, Finn, and Ben ran towards the corridor. As they ran forward, a few survivors hobbled out. As they made their way, Ben stopped at the sight of a man who's red hair had grown long, and beard grown unkept. Hux stood his ground, supporting himself with his cane but firing where needed with a blaster; urging his surviving comrades to hurry. Upon noticing each other, the two men nodded at each other in solidarity.

The last to come running out of the corridor was Anya. Covered in sweat and blood, heaving for breath she ran, the Shrillz quite literally at her ankles. Ben couldn't believe his eyes. It was her.

Anya couldn't think, could barely breathe. Terror and fear had consumed her. She didn't see the three lightsabers before her. Her eyes were blurred with tears and panic. She was running for her life. She stumbled on a rock and fell to her hands and knees. All at once a claw from one of the creatures came down on her back, dragging her back towards the mass of teeth. She felt herself being dragged along the floor until all at once it stopped.

Pain consumed her and she felt a wetness along her back. She couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. She no longer felt the claws in her back. So she pulled her knees to her chest and covered her face with her hands and just began to sob.

Ben had rushed forward and with the flick of his wrist he froze the creature that had it's claws sunk into Anya's back. All at once, as if the other creatures knew. They stopped. Easily Ben broke the neck of the creature with The Force and flung it against the stone wall, a nauseating crack echoing the space. Anger raged through him. He became absolutely feral. He would take them all on his own, but he didn't need to. Rey and Finn were swiftly at his side.

At first the creatures began to fight back, but Ben's rage alone was enough to frighten them away. The sound of Resistance Ships soon echoed through the space and the creatures yelped and cowered in retreat.

Ben disengaged his lightsaber and ran over to where Anya lay. He could hear her crying. He fell to his knees and pulled her to him. Prying her hands away from her face, she stopped crying. Where her eyes tricking her? Had she died and was this some sort of cruel trick? She reached up and held his face in her hands before falling apart all over again. She wanted this moment to last longer, she wanted to bring her lips to his, but it wasn't to be, she was in too much pain.

"You're ok. You're ok." He said over and over to her. The creature had had torn through the layers of the black flight suit she was wearing, scratching and cutting the skin on her back.

"We need to hide you!" Poe said, running down the corridor. The resistance ships were making their approach and it was clear that Ben needed to hide. Scooping Anya up in his arms they all rushed towards the ship.

"Poe... what did you tell them?" Rey asked.

"I said you and Finn had Jedi visions that there were survivors on Exegol and you came to rescue them." Poe said. It was a good plan, and wasn't entirely from the truth.

Ben carried Anya up into the ship and gently placed her down on a chair in the lounge area. Kneeling down in front of her he took both her hands in to his and looked longingly into her eyes. He had so much he wanted to say to her, and so many questions he wanted to ask; but now was not the time.

Poe grabbed him by the arm, shoved him in to a bunk room, and locked the door.


	17. Repentance

A large medical ship soon touched down on the surface of Exegol and a group of 4 X-wings kept a perimeter to ensure aerial safety. Rose was the one who led them there after receiving instruction from Connix who got it from Poe. Rose marched towards Rey, Finn, and Poe, her face red with frustration and a little bit of anger.

"What the hell!?" She yelled.

"We figured it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission." Rey said.

"These people need medical attention. Look at them." Poe said, pointing to the now slightly smaller crowd of survivors huddled together in the shadow of Anya's ship. Rose just shook her head and gave the order for medical attention to be given.

"These people are war criminals, if people find out about this..." Rose said.

"These people have suffered more than the First Order officials who have been hiding in cowardice and luxury throughout the galaxy. Is it not better to show mercy?" Rey argued back.

"You've sat through the court hearings, you've read the reports. The majority of these people were just slaves to a machine, victims like millions of others. Victims like I was." Finn said. Rose just put her hands on her hips and shook her head.

"If I might have a say..." Everyone turned towards Hux, who was standing, frail, balancing most of his weight on his cane.

"Holy hells." Rose said, immediately recognizing him.

"Most of these survivors were stormtroopers, some were medical personnel, and a few were custodial crew. They were of little to no importance. If it means anything, I gladly surrender myself if it meant their safety." Hux said.

"No... Hux... come on man, you were our spy... surely..." Poe went to begin.

"I was a spy for the wrong reasons. I am guilty of crimes no doubt, take me, but just... help them." He said in a truly genuinely humbled voice. Rose shook her head and walked towards him.

"Armitage Hux, as former General for the First Order, I am placing you under arrest." Rose, almost regretfully said. She reached out and motioned for him to follow her up towards the medical ship.

It was established that the resistance would provide aid to the survivors. Hux received medical attention, but he would be placed under formal arrest upon their return to Naboo. Rey flagged down a few nurses and brought them up into the ship to tend to Anya. Nervously, Rey looked back and forth between the nursing staff and the door that kept Ben hidden from them. No one must know. Rey stayed with Anya as long as she could, holding her hand while the nurses pulled rubble and fabric out of the deep cuts on her flesh.

Locked inside a bunk room, Ben paced back and forth, occasionally stopping to press his ear to the door. He pulled at his own hair every time he heard Anya cry out in pain as they dressed her wounds. She was there... she was right there, and he could do nothing. The man was in utter anguish. All of this was his fault. His mistake. His bad decisions. People died... because of him. People suffered... because of him. Anya was hurt... because of him. Coming back was a foolish thing to do, he truly and genuinely felt that he wasn't worth redemption. Feeling defeated, he slumped down on the edge of the bed in the room.

On the other side of the door, Rey could sense Ben's anguish. The nurses were almost done, Anya was fully bandaged up and would be given pain medication soon. Once the nurses finished, they helped Anya to her bunk room, right next to the room Ben was locked in. Rey helped Anya settle and as soon as the nurses left, Anya asked for him.

"Is he back? Did you do it?" She asked.

"We did. We have to hide him right now, once it is safe, I'll bring him in." Rey said.

"Ok." Anya said, yawning as the pain killers started to take affect. Confident that Anya was comfortable, Rey snuck into the bunk next door to find Ben softly sobbing to himself on the floor.

"Hey... hey." She soothingly said to him, stooping down and wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders.

"I... I shouldn't have come back. Look at what I've done." He sobbed.

"Don't say that. It's all going to be ok." Rey softly said. Ben just sobbed with his hands covering his face. Rey knew that this was going to be a lot, he was going to need a lot of time to heal and recover from... everything. This wasn't going to be easy, but they needed to try, they needed to support him.

"How... How did you find her? Anya... where was she?" He said after calming down for a moment.

"There has been inquiries into bringing former First Order officials to justice. Court cases have been going on for like two years now. She was found on Sorgan... living in hiding." Rey started.

"So you arrested her?" Pain in his voice.

"No... no... not at all, we visited her to just ask some questions. We.... we had intelligence about... about you guys." Rey nervously said.

"She left me. Did she tell you that?" A twinge of bitterness in his voice.

"She did, I think once you talk with her... things will be easier to understand." Rey said, patting him on his shoulder.

"Who's ship is this?" Ben said, looking around at the new space.

"Her's.... if it weren't for her we probably wouldn't have been able to do this." Rey said, Ben just looked at her. She could sense how utterly confused and conflicted he was feeling. He had all this guilt now on his shoulders, and now seeing Anya again, he was faced with a whole multitude of emotions he couldn't quite register all at once.

"She loves you." Rey said to him.

"She loved Kylo Ren." He bitterly spat.

"No... no... I think she knew more about you than you realized." Rey said. At that moment there was a light knock on the door. Rey stood up and opened it slowly to see that it was Finn on the other side.

"We're getting ready to leave in a few. Rose wants to see you." Finn said.

"Ok... hey, stay with him while I go." Rey said, switching places with Finn. Rey looked over her shoulder and grinned at the sight of Finn patting Ben on the shoulder and sitting down on the ground next to him.

***

All of the survivors were assessed and given initial medical treatment before being boarded up on the medical ship to be taken to Naboo for further treatment. Poe had stayed with Hux, feeling guilty that the blaster wound he had given the man had festered, and also guilty that he had willingly given himself up. It was remarkable, seeing the former enemies conversing in a friendly manner, as if they had been long acquaintances. When medical staff finally left Hux alone, he admitted to Poe that he had seen Ben, to which Poe confirmed.

"Listen... I don't understand all the Jedi mystical Force stuff, but I do know it's serious, so I went along with it. I don't know what we're going to do with the guy, we are keeping it a secret, he'll probably live the rest of his life in some sort of exile." Poe said to Hux.

"I understand. So, what do you think will happen to me?" Hux asked.

"There's a war crimes counsel, they'll review whatever file they have on you and determine whether it goes to a galactic court or not. At the end of the day, a guy of your status, they'll probably just put you at a detention facility, one of the nice ones."

"One can only hope." Hux said with a chuckle. It was then that Rose came in and informed Poe that they were getting ready to depart. Poe bid Hux farewell and went to rejoin the others on Anya's ship.

***

Finn had stayed with Ben until Rey returned from checking in with Rose. Finn even brought Ben a beer, the only thing they had on the ship with alcohol in it. Ben was grateful for the company. He truly was grateful for all that they had done for him, but he was still beating himself up over everything.

Poe powered up the ship and brought it out of Exegol's atmosphere. One they were safely away from any resistance ships, Rey tapped on the door.

"It's safe for you to come out now." Rey said.

"Can... can I see her?" Ben asked.

"Of course." She said. Ben got up and followed Rey over to Anya's door. Rey slowly opened it and Anya was propped up in the bed, she should have been asleep with all the pain meds she had been given, but she had forced herself to stay awake, fearful she would miss Ben's visit.

"I'll leave you two to it." Rey said, leaving and closing the door to give them privacy. Anya was wearing a medical gown the nurses had put her in, cutting her out of the clothes she had previously been wearing. Ben looked at her with wide and soft eyes. To him, she both hadn't changed a but, but also had changed. Her hair was much longer, there was more of a maturity about her that he couldn't quite explain, but most of all, she was just as beautiful as when he last saw her.

Anya squinted her eyes, trying to focus on Ben. She knew that it was him, but her senses had been dulled by the pain medication. To put it plainly, she was high. He carefully maneuvered himself to sit on the edge of the bed, careful not to cause too much movement that might hurt her. Anya reached out and took his hand. A tear fell from her eye as she finally realized that this was real.

Anya brought her hands up to his face, his gorgeous face, she ran her fingers through his thick black hair, and she ran her thumb over his soft lips.

"You're real." She said, her voice was shaky, and her words slightly slurred.

"I'm real." He said with a chuckle, reaching for her hand. He looked down at her hand after noticing a metallic roughness on one of her fingers. He rubbed his thumb over the ring he had given her.

"The ring I gave you. You still have it." He softly said, bringing her hand up to his lips and kissing the ring and her finger. There was that spark again. That spark that they had felt so long ago when they had first met, it was like they were feeling it all over again. Anya was breathless, it felt like the room was spinning, a side effect most likely of the drugs. Anya couldn't help but giggle, revealing to Ben just exactly how far gone the meds had made her.

"Goodness... what did they give you?" He said with a laugh.

"Hell if I know, but I feel greeeaate." She laughed. They laughed together for a moment before quieting down, still holding each other's hands. They sat together in comfortable silence, Ben rubbing his thumb over the ring on Anya's finger. Even in her inebriated state she could tell he was getting serious. Even after all this time, even after all this change, she could still read him like a book.

"Wh... why did you leave me?" He softly said.

"I would have been killed if I stayed." Anya choked out.

"I wouldn't have allowed that to happen."

"I was never afraid of you... I was afraid of Snoke."

"I killed Snoke. You could have come back." He said.

"Do you remember our last night together? Do you remember me waking up from a bad dream?" Anya said, trying to push herself up into a better seated position, flinching as the bandages pinched her wound on her back.

"I replayed that night in my mind over and over again." He replied, a small smirk forming on his lips.

"The dream I had. It was a vision. I saw you, I saw Rey. I saw you kill Snoke in his throne room. I saw the battle over Exegol. I saw it all... but I also saw something else. I saw myself standing in the wreckage of The Deathstar clutching your cloak while a team of stormtroopers executed me. Then my mother appeared before me and told me I needed to run if I was going to survive. So I left. I didn't want to leave. I wanted to come back, I wanted to reach out to you."

"But you didn't." He cut her off harshly. Anya swallowed hard, she could feel her throat tighten and tears begin to well up, but she choked them back. Ben ran his hands through his hair and looked away from her and sighed before speaking.

"I had a vision too. I saw you, by a lake. I saw a fleet of Star Destroyers come. I saw you hiding in a room. I tried to stop them, I ordered them to stand down, to not shoot, but they were not under my command, they didn't listen. Then I saw Palpatine, and there was a baby crying in the background." He confessed.

"A baby?"

"Yes. It was when I woke up from that dream that I was told of Palpatine still some how being alive." He said. Anya tried to sit up again. Things were beginning to make sense to her, her dream... and now his dream. They were like two pieces of a puzzle that showed her a full picture.

"Don't you see... everything happened just as it should have! All the decisions we've made, they were the right decisions." She said, she was getting a bit excited. In her drug induced mind, things were making sense.

"What do you mean?"

"If I had stayed... I would have been killed, both of us would have been. If you hadn't helped Rey defeat Palpatine he would have won and killed you both, eventually coming looking for me because of Nora." Anya rambled quickly, not even sure she was even making sense. She was up on her knees now in the bed, both of her hands on his shoulders.

"Nora? Who's Nora?" Ben asked. Anya's eyes grew wide and the color drained from her face. This wasn't how she wanted things to go, this was not how she wanted to tell him. She hadn't fully decided exactly how she wanted to tell him, but it most certainly wasn't like this. She had now screwed up and there was no going back, it was now or never.

"A few... a few weeks after I left... I... I realized I was pregnant." She said, reaching for his hand. He looked her in the face and she watched as all the color drained from his skin. He sat there for a moment, not even breathing, his mouth just hanging open in a state of shock.

"She was born in the Spring, on Sorgan. She likes chocolate chip cookies, picking flowers, and I can't ever get her to stop singing, she sings all the time." Anya said as tears fell from her eyes and she reached for her datapad to pull up a picture.

"She'll be three in a few months." Anya said as she handed him the datapad with the picture pulled up. He just stared at the picture for a long time in silence, eventually taking his thumb and rubbing it over the part of the screen where Nora's face was. Anya was in a frozen state of suspense, worried about how he would next react.

"She's.... She's so pretty." He said, breaking down into a cry. Relief flowed over Anya as she realized that this was a good reaction, she too began to o cry as he brought the datapad up to his chest and hugged it before reaching over and gently hugging her, careful to not touch her bandages.

"I wanted... I wanted to tell you, I did. There were a few times I almost did too, but I had to think of her. It was nothing against you, I just wanted her to have a different kind of childhood. A childhood with sunshine and flowers and living on an actual planet instead of some spaceship in the sky and being sent off to a military school." Anya said with Ben understanding that she was referring to both of their own difficult childhoods.

"Don't be sorry... I understand. I probably would have made the same decision." He said before kissing the top of her head. He really did understand. He thought back to the time he had gone back to the Oasis, how he had thought to himself about all the things he would have given Anya had she stayed. Of course he wouldn't want any child of his to experience the same difficulties he had faced. He chuckled to himself as he thought about how Kylo Ren would have reacted to this news. He probably would have reacted just the same, albeit with a little more dramatics perhaps, and a declaration that Nora would grow up to be the greatest Empress the galaxy had ever seen. He shoved that thought to the side.

"What are you thinking about?" Anya asked, her eyes growing heavy now from the effort of fighting the medication.

"That I cant wait to meet her."

***

Ben stayed with Anya until she drifted off into a pain killer induced slumber. He watched her sleep for a bit before he exited the room to find Rey, Finn, and Poe just lounging around in the lounge area. Poe had set the ship to auto pilot and they were just coasting through space while they rested from their ordeal. Upon emerging from Anya's room, Ben gripped his stomach as a hunger pain hit him. Technically, he hadn't eaten in 2 years.

It had been strange being locked inside the In Between. Time moved differently there. On one hand it was as if time hadn't moved at all, but on the other hand he knew that 2 whole years had passed. It was difficult to explain or even process fully. His body was just the same as it had been, the bruises on his face from his battle on Exegol still present, even the clothes he wore were still just the same. Manifested fully by the sacrifice of his uncle and grandfather.

His uncle and grandfather.

Ben slumped down in a nearby chair and just drifted off into deep thought. It had all happened so quickly, like they had already planned it and didn't even give him a say. No he felt like he had to process and mourn his Uncle and Grandfather. He also had to process the fact that despite all he had done, they still so selflessly acted on his behalf, sacrificing themselves.

We are still here Ben.

Our wisdom will never leave you.

He heard their voices through the force. He looked down at his hands. Although their Force presence would no longer be attainable, their wisdom that they carried now somehow lived inside of him. No one is ever truly gone.

"You ok there buddy?" Poe said to Ben.

"Yeah... yeah. I'm just hungry and have a lot to think about." Ben replied. Rey got up from her seat next to Finn and pulled out dried snacks from a storage compartment in the ship and handed them to Ben.

"It's not much." She said.

"It will do. Thank you." He said. They all sat in awkward silence as Ben munched on the snack. They took turns looking back and forth at each other. Did he know? Did Anya tell him? Ben could sense their awkwardness, he too began to stare at them.

"So... you all know." Ben said.

"Know what?" Rey played dumb.

"About Nora." Ben said, to that they all let out an audible sigh of relief and a bit of laughter.

"Yes. We all know. We've met her." Rey said.

"She's a little fireball for sure." Finn said.

"Yeah... definitely 100% your kid." Rey laughed.

"Yeah... tell me about it. I told her she couldn't climb a tree and she threw a fit, hit me in the face and everything!" Finn said.

"When did that happen?" Rey asked.

"When you an Anya went on your little field trip."

"She's pretty cute." Poe interjected.

"Is she safe on Sorgan?" Ben asked.

"Oh yeah. Chewy watches her now." Rey said.

"Oh she had him wrapped around her finger the moment she met him." Finn said.

"Chewy? Chewbacca?" Ben asked.

"Yes. He stayed with her on Sorgan. He knows about all of this, about everything." Rey kindly said. Once again a nervousness began to rise up in Ben. It was a lot. Everything was a lot. He ran his hands through his hair and slumped down in his seat. How would he be able to face Chewbacca after everything he's done?

"Hey... hey, it's going to be ok." Rey said, getting up again and putting her hand on his shoulder. Finn too followed her lead to comfort Ben. They looked at Poe who was still lounging in his chair. Poe rolled his eyes and got up too and came over. Together they worked to comfort Ben, assuring him that everything was going to be ok.

***

They arrived back on Sorgan in the middle of the night on the planet. Only a singular light was on in the villa as they landed the ship nearby. Ben woke Anya and help her get up out of bed. The air was starting to chill on Sorgan as the rainy cold season was approaching. Moira met Rey at the villa gate, dressed in a thick nightgown and robe, carrying a candle to light her way.

"Welcome back friends." Moira said.

"We are glad to be back."

"Where you successful in your trip?" Moira asked

"We were, we were able to rescue our friend; but Anya got hurt, would you mind getting me a nightgown and robe for her." Rey asked.

"Of course." Moira said, turning quickly to head back into the villa. Rey went to help unload a few small items off the ship, they were all exhausted and just wanted to get to bed. Moira returned with a few things for Anya and started her way towards the ship. Upon reaching the ramp of the ship she looked up to see a gigantically tall man, dressed in black standing at the top.

"Hello." Moira said as she ascended the ramp onto the ship.

"Hello." Ben responded. Now in more decent lighting on the ship, Moira looked the man up and down. There was some sort of familiarity about him that she couldn't quite place. She shook her head, thinking to herself that this was just the friend that she had been told they had to rescue from being marooned somewhere.

"I brought these for mistress Anya. Is she well?" Moira asked.

"Moira?" Anya called out from the bunk room. She had steadied herself against the door frame, the cold Sorgan air nipping at her toes.

"Oh there you are. I brought you some clothes." Moira said, ignoring Ben and walking towards Anya, entering the bunk room and shutting the door behind her. Moira did what she did best and helped Anya, caring for her tenderly as if she were her own daughter. Anya thanked Moira profusely, telling her that there was no need for Moira to have stayed up waiting for them or even to come out and help. Moira of course pushed back, insisting that she was glad to help.

Once Anya was dressed in warmer clothes, she exited the room and reached for Ben's arm. Anya was still in a lot of pain, the medication wearing off, and a discomfort from the now soiled bandages setting in. Ever so carefully, Ben picked Anya up in his arms and looked to Moira to lead the way. Seeing how he was being was with Anya, Moira quickly understood just who exactly he was. Moira smiled and led him into the villa and up to the second floor to Anya's room. Moira pulled back the blankets on Anya's bed and Ben carefully placed Anya down on the plush surface.

As he stepped back, he took in a big cleansing breath. He felt it again, the calm, soothing aura that Anya brought. He looked around and noticed how soft, inviting, and comforting the surroundings were. The whole place radiated peace and tranquility.

"Is Nora asleep?" Anya asked.

"Yes Miss, bathed her and put her down at her usual bedtime." Moira responded.

"I guess we'll see her in the morning." Anya said, looking at Ben and smiling. Rey then entered the room carrying a box of medical supplies that had been left for Anya.

"You're due for another dose of medicine." Rey said.

"I can tell." Anya winced in pain.

"Here. Leave that all to me. You all go get some rest. The guest rooms are still all set up for you. Rey, you know where the other extra guest room is for my new friend right?" Moira said, motioning to Ben.

"Yes, of course." Rey said.

"My name is Ben, by the way." He said to Moria.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Moira responded before further shooing them from the room. Ben looked back once more to see Anya wincing in pain, before Moira shut the door to tend to her.

Rey showed Ben down the hall to a spare guest room. He had no hopes of being fully reunited with Anya so soon. He was just happy to be in her presence again. Rey disappeared into her shared room with Finn and Ben lingered in the hall, looking up and down the hallway, seeing a few open doors and a few closed doors. One door caught his eye, it had little drawings all over it and dried flowers adhered to it. He walked closer to take a better look. The door was closest to Anya's room, which only meant one thing.

Ben's hand hovered over the doorknob for a moment. He shut his eyes and debated whether or not he should creak open the door just for a peek. He could sense a little life on the other side, a little life that was sleeping peacefully. He dropped his hand at the sound of another door opening. When he turned to look, he was face to chest with a familiar Wookiee.

A soft noise came from Chewbacca before the Wookiee pulled Ben into a suffocating embrace. Ben was bewildered once again at the kindness being shown to him. He thought for sure, of all people, Chewbacca would want nothing to do with him. Yet here he was, being embraced by the Wookiee. The Wookiee who saw him murder his own father, the Wookiee who shot him in retaliation, and the Wookiee who he tried to torture with the force. Ben choked back a sob.

Chewy beckoned Ben to follow him down to the first floor of the villa where they found a quiet spot to sit in the library. Once they were alone, Ben fell to his knees in front of the Wookiee and groveled at his feet. A cascade of apologies flowed out from Ben's mouth as he found himself to be a blubbering mess of tears and snot.

Chewbacca had already long forgiven Ben for his past actions. He had had the time to do so. In his 234 years of life, he knew enough about the galaxy, the force, and the plagues of Ben's family to know that not everything was Ben's fault. He knew that the boy... now a man... had been traumatized and victimized by forces greater than himself.

Chewy knelt down and pulled Ben to his feet and pulled him to sit down with him by the fireplace. There they sat, talking in Shyriiwook back and forth to each other until time got away from them both and the sun began to rise.

****

A/N:

So part of my brain is like really proud of this chapter, but the other part of my brain is like: "No you suck. You will never be as good as other writers!"

Any who, it really was my goal to try and convey more emotion in this chapter and make it as emotionally realistic as possible. I tried, I really did, but I don't think conveying emotion is my strong point.

As always, I hope you enjoyed reading! There is still much more to come!!!


	18. Flowers

***

I listened to the song "If I Say" by Mumford and Sons over and over again while writing this chapter ;)

***

Just as the sun started to come up, Chewy and Ben both fell asleep on the couch in the library. They were both loudly snoring when Moira woke up for the day and started on her daily rounds. She looked into the room and smiled at the heartwarming sight, although she had no idea just how special it was.

Slowly as the day began, the villa began to stir with life. The two kitchen maids were already beginning breakfast after arriving from the village, and Finn and Rey were the first awake, refreshed after their solid few hours of sleep. Right above where Ben and Chewy lay, a soft thud woke them up, followed by the soft pattering of small feet than ran on the floor above.

"Mama!!!" They heard a little voice cry out.

"Oh good morning! I missed you so much!" They heard Anya reply, followed by the audible sound of kisses and a toddler's giggles. Butterflies rose in Ben's stomach, and Chewy nudged his knee, telling him to go upstairs. Nervously, Ben rose and started to make his way up to the second floor. The villa looked different now in the morning light, there seemed to be even more peace and tranquility now that he was seeing everything in daylight. Ben stood against the wall next to Anya's bedroom door and tried to calm his nerves. He could hear Nora babbling inside and talking to Anya.

Ben finally worked up enough courage and stood in the open doorway to look at both of them. Sunlight was filling the room, streaming in through the airy curtains that hung from the windows, and a soft halo seemed to form around Anya and Nora sitting in the middle of Anya's 4 poster bed. Anya saw Ben before Nora did, she was too busy pulling at the tassels on the comforter to notice Ben had entered the room. Anya smiled and patted the spot next to her in the bed. Nora's back was to Ben as he walked into the room, he could see her wispy black hair that reached her shoulders, her teeny tiny little shoulders. She was like a little doll.

Ben made his way around to the other side of the bed and sat down. As his weight caused the bed to shift, Nora took notice of him. She stared up at him with these big wide eyes that made his heart melt. Her face was dotted with freckles and she had Anya's little nose. She let out this audible gasp and pointed up at him.

"You found him!" Nora proclaimed.

"Yes! Yes we did!" Anya said with a laugh. Ben looked at Anya with a little bit of confusion, but he was quickly distracted by Nora climbing off of Anya and right into his lap. He didn't know what to do as the tiny toddler wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. She smelled like soap and powder, and she felt so fragile compared to him, so tiny. For a moment he didn't know what to do, finally melting into her hug and hugging her back, careful not to crush her.

Nora released her grip on Ben's back and climbed off his lap to start jumping on the bed and giggling with excitement.

"Hey, hey, no jumping, mama's hurt remember?" Anya said, slightly wincing in pain. Nora immediately stoped jumping and said sorry before climbing off the bed and running out of the room and down the hall. Ben turned his attention to Anya just as Nora left the room.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Anya said with a smile. Nora immediately came back into the room carrying a pile of papers. She climbed up on to Ben's lap and all but shoved the papers in his face.

"What's this?" He asked her. He looked at a bunch of children's drawings. Drawings mostly in black and blue. It took him a minute to realize it, but they were drawings of him.

"Lost." Nora said, pointing to the drawings.

"Lost?" Ben asked, turning to Anya.

"Nora, show us your trick. Get mama her hair brush from the vanity. You have my permission." Anya said to Nora. Nora turned, raised her hand, squinted her eyes, and scrunched her little nose before causing the hairbrush to lift off the vanity and float across the room and land in Anya's lap.

"Shit." Ben said.

"Bad word!" Nora shouted, causing them all to laugh. It was while they were laughing that Moira came into the room carrying a tray with coffee and breakfast on it for Anya.

"Oh good morning!" Moira said, seeing the three of them all in bed together. It was undeniably clear to Moira now that her suspicions as to who Ben exactly was were correct. Seeing him side by side with Nora, the resemblance was uncanny.

"I brought you breakfast, miss." Moira said, placing the tray down on Anya's lap.

"Thank you."

"I would have brought everyone breakfast if I knew everyone was going to be in here." Moira said with a laugh.

"Oh don't worry about me." Ben said, while trying to juggle Nora who was now climbing all over him like a jungle gym.

"We have breakfast for everyone downstairs." Moira said.

"Take Nora down and you two eat." Anya instructed.

"Alright, alright." He said, picking up Nora and carefully balancing her on his hip. He turned back once to look at Anya who was just beaming with happiness to watch the two of them interact.

***

Anya ate her breakfast in relative peace and happiness. She could hear the laughter and sounds of excitement flowing up the stairs and into her bedroom. After she finished eating, Moira helped Anya bathe, change her bandages, and get dressed in comfortable clothes for the day. Anya was still in mild pain, but she didn't want the entire day to be wasted away on medication, so she refused her morning dose.

"That Ben fellow seems like a nice gentleman. Very handsome I might say." Moira said as she braided Anya's hair while Anya sat at her vanity.

"He is, and I think so too." Anya said, biting the inside of her cheek.

"Will he be staying long?" Moira asked, deliberately taking longer than usual to braid Anya's hair.

"Moira..." Anya began, turning in her seat to face the older woman who held the ends of her long hair in her fingers. "Ben is... he is Nora's father; and I hope, if he wants, he will stay. I haven't had the chance to discuss it with him yet." All Moira wanted to hear was the confirmation from Anya herself, to that Moira smiled and tied off the end of Anya's braid before putting her hands gently on her shoulders.

"I figured as much. I am happy for you miss... truly."

"Thank you Moira, you are so good to us." Anya said, putting a hand on one of Moira's hands. Moira then helped Anya down the stairs and out to where all the others were. Breakfast in the main dining room had been cleaned up and everyone was outside in the main garden. Finn and Rey were sitting on the steps leaning on each other watching Ben, Chewy, and Nora play a game of tag in the garden, and Poe was lounging on one of the chaise lounges that sat outside.

Something about the scene of it all made Anya choke up a bit. This was what she wanted. The sun was out, Nora had flowers in her hands, everyone was laughing, it was perfect. Anya's eyes found Ben, he looked exhausted, wore out, and a bit thinner than the last time she had seen him. Now in the daylight she was really soaking up the sight of him. His eyes were glued, mesmerized by Nora, and he had a genuine wide smile on his face.

Nora was running between Chewy and Ben, they were playing some sort of game. Nora got a bit too excited and stumbled and tripped, her knees, hands, and stomach hitting the jagged gravel hard. Everyone stopped and held their breath, for they all knew that if you didn't acknowledge a child's injury, the child might just walk it off as if nothing happened. That wasn't the case. Ben rushed over to Nora and knelt down to her level, he picked her up and steadied her on her little feet. Her hands were covered in dirt and knees were already scraped and slightly bloodied.

"You're ok. You're ok." He said to her, but massive tears welled up in Nora's eyes and she cried out. All at once she pushed Ben away, he even felt her use a little force push on him, it was enough to make him stumble backwards on to his butt. Nora ran up the garden path, crying, her hands held out, and straight to Anya. Thinking of only Nora, Anya scooped up the toddler and carried her in the house. All while Nora wailed and cried into Anya's shoulder.

Ben still sat on the garden path, slightly hurt for some reason at Nora's rejection. An instinct had welled up in him that moved him to want to care for her, but she had pushed him away. Angry now, Ben sought out the small rock that Nora had tripped on, he picked it up, stood up, and furiously chucked it over the garden wall, it loudly colliding with a tree on the other side. Yes, Ben Solo was now taking anger out on a small rock and how it dared to trip Nora.

Ben walked up the garden path and into the house. He found Anya and Nora in the kitchen. The kitchen in the villa was large and consisted of a rudimentary hearth, exposed shelving displaying an assortment of copper pots and pans, as well as dishes and cups, a large old wooden working table at the center, and a massive sink, at which Anya had placed Nora. The water was running, and Anya had placed Nora's legs over the edge of the sink. The sight calmed Ben a bit, knowing that Nora too had calmed down. He slowly came up from behind and watched as Anya tenderly used her hands to pour the cool water over Nora's skinned knees, cleaning them of any dirt and blood. Nora flinched at the water and tears continued to roll down her cheeks.

"Hey kiddo, you're being so strong." Ben said, placing his gigantic hand on her little head. She let out a soft sniffle before showing him her hands, which were still covered in dusty dirt. Ben looked around the space until his eyes fell on a kitchen towel. He used the force to bring it to him, causing Nora to gasp in excitement. He wet it in the sink and started to work on cleaning off Nora's hands. She was so teeny compared to him, he tried to focus extra hard on being gentle since he felt like her tiny fingers could just snap in his hand.

Anya had finished cleaning Nora's skinned knees and Ben watched as Anya reached into a drawer by the sink and pulled out an amber glass bottle. When she opened the glass bottle, the fragrance of lavender and Calendula filled the space. Anya melted the waxy ointment in between her hands before applying it to Nora's knees.

"There, all better." Anya said, wiping the excess ointment off on the towel Ben handed her. Nora finally cracked a smile. Ben reached forward and wiped the remaining tears off Nora's face with his thumb and then held out his arms as an invitation. She frowned and shook her head no before reaching for Anya. Ben couldn't help but feel a little hurt. Anya sensed this.

"I think it's nap time, wouldn't you agree?" Anya asked Nora, to which Nora shook her head yes. The child had grown tired and was rubbing her eyes and yawning.

"Do you know who that is?" Anya loudly whispered into Nora's ear and pointed to Ben. Nora shook her head no and suddenly became shy, hiding her face in Anya's neck.

"That's your Da. Can you say Da?" Anya said, Nora shot up and looked at Ben, she stared at him for a long time, as if she was inspecting his face.

"Dada." Nora said with a toothy grin, she then leaned out of Anya's arms and reached for Ben. Ben gladly scooped her up and she wrapped her arms around his neck. A sense of pride and happiness flowed though him. Following Anya's lead, he took Nora up to her bedroom and together Anya and Ben put Nora down for her midday nap.

***

While Nora napped, Ben finally took time for himself, bathing, changing into new clothes that... surprise... Anya managed to find for him, and taking a nap himself. While both Nora and Ben napped, Anya joined the others who were still relaxing out in the garden. They got to chatting and having a good time, just like a regular old group of friends. Rey did get somber after a while when she reminded everyone that they needed to head back to Naboo to make sure the situation with the survivors was taken care of. They decided that they would leave first thing the next morning.

After both taking a solid two hour nap, Nora and Ben rejoined everyone just in time for a walk down to the lake before dinner. Anya couldn't help but smile to herself seeing Ben wearing the dark brown linen pants and lose fitting white linen shirt she had managed to find for him. It was the first time she saw him in anything other than black.

The excursion down to the lake was a nice one, everyone enjoyed themselves, and dinner was equally enjoyable. After dinner Anya showed Ben how to give Nora a bath and put her to bed, then they rejoined the adults in the library for drinks and dessert. All the maids and Moira had already gone home for the evening, so it was just the six of them awake in the house.

Drinks were flowing and everyone was having a good time. For a while, Ben even had forgotten about all that had happened, his mind totally distracted by the good company of friends that surrounded him. It wasn't until the topic of the others returning to Naboo was brought up that reality caught back up with him.

"We'll leave first thing in the morning, after breakfast." Finn said.

"Rose sent me a message today, she said that so far everything has been kept under wraps, the public doesn't know about the survivors yet. The legal counsel has decided it's a matter of galactic security to keep this knowledge a secret for a while." Poe said.

"I think that's wise. We wouldn't want people protesting at the hospital or in the new capital right now. Things need to be sorted and investigated." Rey said.

"I agree." Fin said.

"When you all leave tomorrow... where will I go?" Ben asked. All eyes turned to him. He looked at Anya and saw a bit of pain on her face, he immediately felt stupid for asking such a question.

"We thought you would stay here." Rey said.

"Do you not want to stay here?" Anya asked. Everyone felt the mood int he room change, it was clear that Ben and Anya needed to have a conversation. Finn exaggerated a yawn, and slapped his knees before declaring it was time for bed. He pulled Rey to her feet and dragged her out of the room.

"Alright, good night." Poe too said, getting up and leaving, followed closely by Chewy. As they all disappeared up stairs, silence set in on the house, Ben and Anya were alone together, with only the crackling from the fireplace and the fire's glow to keep them company.

"So do you not want to stay here?" Anya asked again, breaking the silence.

"I didn't want to assume." Ben said.

"Well, you can stay here, with us. It was never going to be a question."

"Even after everything... After all I've done... You'd have me here?" He said, running his hand though his hair.

"Yes."

"I... I don't know." He said, holding his head in his hands.

"What don't you know? You can stay here, have a home here, be a family with us here." Anya sternly said, almost as if it were an order. Ben just hung his head.

"I... I don't deserve all this." He said, motioning to just everything in the room, Anya knew what he meant. This. Happiness, family, peace. He genuinely felt like he didn't deserve it.

"I should go and lock myself away on that island my Uncle hid himself on, or better yet, some swamp planet."

"And continue your family's tradition of misery and self loathing?" Anya said.

"I did... I did the worst of the worst. I'm dangerous. I killed people, and I didn't regret it, I thought nothing of it! It was like breathing to me. I did what I wanted with no remorse. I shouldn't be allowed to live here as if nothing happened. How could you want me after all I did? Surely you know. Surely you knew all that I did, all that I ordered under my command."

"But you regret it now."

"Yes! I do. I bitterly regret all of it. I wish I could have stopped it, some of the things I did, I didn't want to do, but I did them anyway. I did them because it was expected of me."

"Who expected you to do those things?"

"Snoke..."

"And where is Snoke now? Where is the emperor? They're dead, they're gone, you did that, you defeated them. You were being used and abused! Not everything was your fault! I know that now, and I knew it then." Anya said, getting up from her seat and crossing the space between them to sit down on the couch next to him.

"Rey killed the emperor." Ben said.

"And would she have been successful if you hadn't helped?"

"No."

"See, you did that. There's good in you, there's always been good in you."

"Not when I was Kylo Ren. Not then."

"Yes... then too. Kylo might have been a front you were putting up to others, but I still see the same man I fell in love with sitting here before me now. You might have not realized it, but you let me in, you let me see you. I took all of you, the good and the bad. You told me all about your life growing up, you told me about your past, you willingly gave me that. We had, and we still have this connection of sorts, that's undeniable and strong." She softly said while rubbing his back. She was right, he had given her all of him back then. She was the only person he felt safe with. She never judged him, never bothered him, never pressured him. She was good and faithful then, and she was good and faithful now.

"All my life I've had voices in my head telling me what to do, and people in my life telling me what to do, and I resented it. I hated it. Now they're gone... my head is quiet... and I have no idea what to do with myself or where to go or who to be." He said, leaning back on the couch.

"Just be you. Be you... because I choose you, no matter what."

"I don't know how to be me."

"You do, we just need to find it again. We can find it together." She said, he turned his head and looked at her, the light of the fire dancing in her eyes and the light playing off her skin. She was so beautiful, more beautiful now than when he first met her, he thought.

"You're so beautiful." He said. To this statement, she got embarrassed, just as she always did.

He lifted his hand up and caressed the side of her cheek before leaning forward, closing the space between them. He brought his lips to hers and tenderly kissed her. She melted into the kiss, kissing him back with the same delicateness he was showing her. The kiss couldn't be any more innocent and pure, yet it evoked a lustful response in Anya's body that she had not felt since he last kissed her.

"I want to start over." He said after breaking away from the kiss. "I want to start over with us. Do things right and proper, be a good example for Nora."

"Whatever you want. So long as you're here with us."

"I love you... and I just want to fall in love with you all over again; but this time... here, as new people."

"I'm glad." She said, putting her chin on his shoulder. They sat in comfortable silence watching the flames dance in the fireplace.

"Oh! I know what you said about starting over... but... I have something to show you." Anya said, getting up and grabbing her datapad from across the room. She sat down and Ben gently put his arm around her shoulder, careful not to touch the bandages still on her back. Anya wasn't sure about showing him these photos, but she thought he deserved to see.

Ben's eyes lit up when he saw the photos, the pictures that had been taken in secret of their time together on The Oasis. She handed him the datapad and he scrolled though carefully, his eyes lingering and carefully examining each and every photo.

"I thought your crew were loyal to you?" He jokingly said.

"I guess I was wrong." She giggled. Part of him wanted to be repulsed seeing himself in those clothes and in that helmet; but the other part of him was happy. It reminded him of how right Anya was about how he had shown her all of him back then. In some photos he looked... genuinely happy, and that was because he was. Only when he was with Anya was he ever genuinely happy. She was his safe haven during that time.

While he scrolled slowly, Anya let her chin rest on his shoulder. She was no longer looking at the photos, instead, she was looking at him. She scooted closer to him, inhaling his scent at first, and then, slowly nuzzling her nose against his neck. He froze when he felt her breath against his skin like that, and he lowered the datapad when he felt her nose against his skin. When she pressed her lips against that sensitive spot he had on his neck, just below his ear, his body shuttered and he rolled his eyes.

Anya began to lay a trail of soft kisses down the side of his neck. All he could think about was just how dangerous this was. There was no denying that he wanted her, he wanted her just as badly as he did years ago. A fire had now been ignited in him and he could feel a pressure building in his pants.

She pulled away momentarily, long enough for him to hook his finger under her chin and bring her mouth to his. Sitting side by side for a while, they made out just like that. He pressed her hand to his chest before snaking his hand down the side of her body and hooking his hand behind her knee. In one fluid movement he pulled her on top of him so that she was straddling him. Not once breaking their kiss.

Anya relished in the sensations of his mouth against her neck now and his hands on her thighs. Stars she missed this. She could feel a hardness had grown in his pants and she couldn't resist herself from rubbing her core against his. A passion had awoken in Ben and all he wanted in that very moment was her. Be bucked back against her, and in a moment of rashness, he pulled her hips to his and pushed her down on to the couch.

Almost immediately, Anya pushed him off of her, hissing in pain. Her back. He had forgotten momentarily about her back.

"Crap... I'm sorry." He said, getting off of her and helping her up.

"You're fine." She said, wincing in pain.

"No.. no. I'm sorry. I forgot, I got ahead of myself." He said, running his hand through his hair. Anya just chuckled as she caught her breath and waited for the pain to subside.

"At least I know that part of you hasn't changed." She chuckled. This eased his worry and he chuckled too. The mood had now changed and the lust and passion they had been feeling moments prior had subsided. Now, tiredness was setting in, and Ben had said he wanted to keep things "proper" in the meantime. This he reminded her of, and they agreed that... for the mean time... they would sleep apart and keep things proper, and just see how things go.

Ben and Anya went up stairs together. Together, they peeked in Nora's room to make sure she was sleeping soundly. After seeing that she was dreaming peacefully in her little bed, they closed her door. Ben stood behind Anya as she held her hand on the door knob to her room.

"Goodnight." She said to him.

"Goodnight." He said, before leaning down and kissing her on her cheek. He went to his room and found himself able to sleep blissfully in contentment and happiness.

****

Hi guys! Once again, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!!! MORE IS COMING!!!!!!

Xoxo


	19. Bonding

Ben rose early the following morning. The house was still silent as the others slept. He took this time to explore more around the villa and the grounds. If this was to be his home, he thought he might as well get used to it. He first went to the kitchen, where he was easily able to make himself a cup of coffee. He carried the mug in his hand as he explored. Ben noted that there was a blend of the most modern technology throughout the estate, but also primitive elements as well. 

The morning fog gave the land around the villa a beautiful hue as the sun began to rise. He could like it here, he thought to himself. Finding a good spot on the back stone patio, he sat in a meditative stance on the wall that looked down into the gardens and down towards the lake. Meditating now came so easily to him, things felt balanced for once. He was just getting into the deeper mediation when the wooden door to the villa creaked and startled him.

"Hey." It was Rey.

"Good morning." Ben said.

"I like to meditate here too." She said, coming up beside him and sitting down. Saying nothing more, they both started to meditate. Now that they meditated together, the Force hummed with tranquility and balance. Wise voices began to speak to both Ben and Rey and imparted wisdom upon them. So this is what true balance felt like. 

"Darkness and light, together in peace, together in harmony." Once voice said.

"Learn from the teachings of old, but also learn their flaws." Another said. 

"Accept how the force chooses to use you, try not to fight it."

"There is no light without dark. Through passion you will gain focus. Though knowledge you will gain power. Through serenity you will gain strength. Through victory you will gain harmony. There is only the Force." A final voice spoke to them. They heard the clinking of pots and pans coming from the kitchen. Time had passed and the maids had arrived for the day to start of breakfast for everyone. 

"How are you feeling?" Rey asked Ben.

"Oddly enough... fine; better than fine really. I can't describe it."

"I think that's called happiness." Rey said with a chuckle, to which he laughed. 

"It's all settling in on me. I guess I'll still have my moments." Ben said.

"Of course, it's only natural. It's so much change at once."

"I have a whole ass kid." He said with disbelief in his voice. 

"That too." Rey laughed. 

"And I have Anya." He said looking down at his hands. 

"She's a good one. You take care of her Ben Solo." Rey ordered.

"And you and FN-2187." Ben jokingly said, to which Rey playfully kicked him in the shin.

"Yes.., me and Finn." 

"I can see that he loves you, you need to be good to him. Don't make his life difficult."

"Me? Difficult!? No such thing." Rey said, to which Ben rolled his eyes. They sat in silence for a moment, watching the morning light dance on the still lake water.

"He want's us to get married." Rey said, breaking the silence. 

"So what's stopping you?"

"I don't... I don't know. It's..."

"It's permanent, it's certainty?" Ben said, finishing her sentence.

"Yes. Exactly, and nothing in my life has exactly been... certain. At least I feel like."

"You don't feel like you deserve it?"

"Yeah."

"Well... if there's anyone who doesn't deserve anything, it's me. What did I say that one time? Let the past die. Move forward." He said, making her laugh. 

"We'll see. You know, you deserve happiness too." She said, just as Chewy joined them carrying a muffin on a plate.

"We'll see." Ben replied. Rey got up and went inside, leaving Chewy and Ben to have some more time together. Chewy would be leaving with Finn, Rey, and Poe, the Wookiee had his own obligations to attend to, not to mention his own family. He did promise that he would be visiting frequently, which made Ben happy. Ben had to ask a favor from Chewy before he left, though. It was now clear to Ben that he probably would never step foot off of Sorgan for the rest of his life, so when it came to specialized tasks, he would need Chewy to take care of them. 

The task that Ben had for Chewy was one that had to be a secret, but he knew the Wookiee would be able to make it happen and bring it back to Sorgan in a matter of weeks. That was all the time Ben knew he needed. Just a few weeks. 

Anya appeared in the doorway, with Nora on her hip. She smiled seeing Ben and Chewy talking. Quietly, she put Nora down and Nora ran to tackle both Ben and Chewy who were sitting close together.

"Breakfast is ready you two!" Anya said with a laugh. 

***

Goodbyes were said, and the Falcon and Poe's x-wing disappeared back into space. Ben, Anya, and Nora were now alone as a little family, of sorts. The days quickly developed their own routines. Wake up, meditate, eat breakfast, and then find something to do until lunch, put Nora down for a nap, and then find something to do until dinner, then get Nora ready for bed. 

Anya was always busy doing something. Her main focus was getting things ready for Sorgan's winter rainy season; which was rapidly approaching. Ben just mostly watched Anya work. He would steal kisses from her in the hallway or when no one was looking, and after putting Nora to bed, they would sit in the library by the fireplace and just talk. 

He had his bad days. Days when old memories would creep up on him. Guilt and regret would weigh on him. Anya got him though those dark days. She was so patient and understanding. She would intently listen to him, build him up with kind words, and just help him to feel heard and seen.

Things were going well... mostly well. Ben struggled at times on now being a parent. He never did anything wrong, Anya always assured him of that, but it was hard when Nora just automatically ran to Anya for everything. It was one thing to put her down for naps and give her a bath, Ben just wanted to feel... useful. He didn't feel like he had a bond with Nora like Anya had. 

"It will come." Moira said to him one day in the kitchen. She had noticed he had a melancholy look on his face after the toddler ran in and grabbed Anya to show Anya something in the garden. All Ben wanted was for Nora to think of him. Right now he felt like she just viewed him as some sort of playmate and nothing more.

"Excuse me?" Ben replied to Moira.

"Sometimes fathers have a difficult time... in normal circumstances bonding with their children. I know my husband did." Moira said.

"You have children?"

"Two boys, they're grown now. In the early days everything is about Mom. Mom this, mom that. Mom is the one that carries the child, births the child, feeds the child, and does the most for the child. It's only natural for that strong bond to be there. You'll have your moment one day where instinct just kicks in, and everything falls into place."

"I sometimes don't feel like I'm doing a good job." Ben said, looking down at his feet.

"You're doing great, the best you can, these things take time." She said, patting his arm before leaving the kitchen.

***

Ben and Anya laid on the couch in the parlor under a thin blanket. Ben was spooned around Anya and was twirling her hair in his fingers. This was the most intimate they got nowadays, not that it was a bad thing, they both started to look forward to their cuddle time together after Nora went to bed and the maids and all went home. 

Anya had turned on some corny holodrama and was very much invested in the storyline. Ben on the other hand was just invested in Anya. In the short few weeks he had been back, he had fallen in love with her all over again, and it had been rather difficult more recently keeping his hands to himself. 

That very morning, he had cornered her in the hallway and had her pressed against the wall while he kissed her silly. She tried to stifle her giggles until Nora came running in to see what all the fuss was about. At first, Ben was embarrassed to have been caught by Nora, but the situation was fairly innocent, so he turned and grabbed the toddler and kissed her all over her face until she too was giggling. He had then pulled both his girls close to him and hugged them both, taking turns kissing their foreheads until they were both giggling. 

Anya shifted her weight a bit to get into a more comfortable position, rubbing her butt up against him. Stars it was getting harder to keep his hands to himself. Anya's pajama top shifted and the back hung a little lower, revealing the now pink scars that remained from the scratches on her back.

Ben began to trace them with his fingers, feeling the difference between the scar tissue and her soft skin. He rested his hand on one of the smaller scars and focused his energy. At first he wasn't sure if he should even try it, but he wanted to give it a shot. Healing the little scar was fairly easy, and Anya was so focused on the holodrama, she didn't even notice, she just reached back and scratched the spot as if it had just tickled her. 

"What are you doing?" She said turning to him.

"I wanted to try something, turn back around." He said. Anya turned back around and he pressed his fingers to another scar and focused his energy. Slowly the wide, pink line faded.

"What are you doing?" She said as she shivered and sat up to scratch your back.

"Oh just a little force trick." He chuckled. Now that she was sitting up, he lifted up the bottom of her top and pressed his fingers to the last, and the worst of the scars.

"Stay still for this one." He whispered into her ear, again, Anya felt the tickling sensation again. When he removed his hand she got up and went to the mirror that hung on the wall on the far side of the room.

"Oh!" She exclaimed once she looked at her back.

"I Force healed you." He said before yawning, healing the three scars had only weakened him slightly this time. Anya smiled and walked back over to him, this time she had a mischievous look in her eyes. She climbed on top of him, straddling him, and just looped her arms around his neck and looked him in the eyes. 

"Thank you." She said before slowly closing the gap between them and kissing him. Ben ran his hands up her legs and gripped at her hips as he pushed forward to deepen the kiss. He moved his mouth from hers down to her jaw and then to her neck. Anya tossed her head back and let out a small moan. Things hadn't been easy for her either with him around. She had her moments when she didn't want to keep her hands to herself, but fortunately for the two of them, she was the one who had the most self control out of them both. 

Ben snaked his hands up under her shirt once more, feeling at her now smooth and healed back. His cock was rock hard in his pants and in an effort to try and find relief, he shifted his weight. Anya felt his hardness and smiled as continued to leave a slow trail of kisses down her neck towards her décolleté. She pressed her core against the bulge in his pants, and at the moment of impact they both moaned. 

"I might just cum in my pants." He breathlessly said to her. 

"Same." She said before aggressively capturing his mouth with hers. His hands left her back and went straight to her tits. He had fireworks going off in his brain as the palms of his hands felt her breasts through he thing fabric of her shirt. This was the fist time he allowed himself to touch her like this again. 

Anya couldn't help herself, she began to dry hump him against his leg in an effort to find relief. It felt so good to be touched again, to be loved on, to feel this much arousal again. Only he elicited this much passion from her. 

Ben was definitely going to cum in his pants. It was only a matter of time. He brought his hands up to her hair and gave it a tug exposing more of her neck to him. He loved her neck. He loved kissing her neck, mainly because it kept him in close contact with her, he loved the way her skin tasted, but most of all, he loved hearing the little moans that escaped her mouth. 

"What did you miss most about me?" Anya asked, continuing to grind her hips against his.

"Everything. Your mouth, your hair, your ass, your tits... but especially your pussy. I bet its dripping right now, isn't it? All wet for me." He said, growing more aggressive by the moment, humping against her harder than before.

"... Yes." She moaned out. He brought his hand to her ass and gathered up all the flesh he could through the fabric of her pajama bottoms, and squeezed hard. He wanted nothing more than to rip her clothes off of her and throw her on the coffee table in front of them and fuck her senseless, but his body betrayed him. Seeing nothing but a burst of white, Ben came in his pants. 

Anya knew that look on his face. That would never change. She laughed as he held her close and flopped backwards on the couch. She shifted her weight off of him and laid beside him, leaving a gentle trail of kisses down the side of his neck. 

"Damn... that doesn't feel good." He said trying to adjust himself through he fabric of his pants, noting the now sticky mess that resided there. All Anya could do was laugh. 

He went to turn on his side to kiss her once more and maybe slowly slide his hands up her shirt, but they were interrupted by the soft sound of Nora crying upstairs. She had only been put to bed two hours prior, so something had to be wrong. Anya of course was the one who got up while Ben limped to his room to change his underwear and pants. 

When he emerged her found Anya sitting in the rocking chair in Nora's room holding Nora close to her chest under the soft glow of a lamp. Nora looked like she had broken out into a sweat while she slept, her hair was wet and plastered to her forehead, her cheeks flushed, and she was just nuzzling her face into Anya's chest.

"I think she has a fever." Anya said as Ben entered the room. He squatted down in front of Nora to get a better look at her. Her face was red and her eyes had this glossy look to them. He brought his hand up to her forehead and felt that she was extremely warm.

"She is very warm." He said. Nora sniffled and buried her face into Anya's chest once more.

"Booboo mama, booboo." She said in a pathetic little voice.

"No, I'm sorry, booboo all gone." Anya said to Nora before looking up at Ben.

"She's definitely sick. I haven't nursed her in nearly nine months." Anya said to bed.

"What can I do?" He pleaded. Anya lifted Nora up and handed her to Ben, Nora protested at first, but Ben hushed her and pulled her tight to his chest.

"I'll get her some fresh clothes and medicine from downstairs." Anya disappeared and Ben sat down on the rocking chair, the wooden seat creaking under his weight. Nora brought her hand up to her mouth and sucked on her thumb and then nuzzled into his chest. Poor little thing. His heart hurt to see her not feeling well. He held her tightly, wishing he could do something. He felt so helpless. Anya seemed to know exactly what to do, but he had no idea.

When Anya returned they stripped Nora and got her in some fresh clothes. Ben held her as Anya coaxed Nora to take some medicine. Together Ben and Anya climbed into the little toddler bed as best as they could and stayed until Nora fell asleep. 

***

It was well after midnight when another loud cry came from Nora's bedroom. Ben shot up in his bed and rushed to the room next to his. When he flicked on the light he saw little Nora sitting up in bed, sweaty, and covered in vomit.

"Oh kiddo." He said, going to reach for her, pushing aside any feelings of disgust at the sight of vomit.

"Mama!" Nora cried. Right on cue, Anya walked into the room, pushing Ben aside. 

"Oh baby." Anya said.

"I'll go make a bath for her." Ben said while Anya started to strip Nora of her clothes. Anya brought Nora to the bathroom and handed her to Ben who put her in the warm bath water. Nora really didn't look good. She was both flushed, and pale at the same time, and her little cries were more like whimpers. Ben bathed her and wrapped her up in a fluffy towel, being extra careful with her. 

Anya had stripped Nora's bed and replaced all the sheets and blankets with clean ones. Right as Ben brought Nora into the room, Nora puked all down the back of Ben's shirt. His eyes grew wide and Anya couldn't help but chuckle. Ben stripped right there in the nursery, keeping only his boxers on and tossing his vomit covered clothes into the dirty pile of laundry Anya had made. 

Anya shoved a bucket into Ben's hand and handed Nora back to him. He sat back down on the rocking chair, holding both the bucket and Nora close. Her fever was back and she shivered against him, using the Force he brought a clean blanket to him to cover her to keep her form getting even more chilled. It was clear that Ben and Anya were going to be up the rest of the night with Nora. 

When Anya came back into the room, she paused at the door and sighed, pressing her hand to her stomach. 

"Are you ok?" Ben asked.

"I don't feel good." She said.

"Was it what we had for dinner?" Ben asked.

"I don't know." Anya said, kneeling down in front of them and putting her hand to Nora's forehead. There was cause for concern with Nora's fever, it wasn't alarmingly high, but still, fevers in babies always make people nervous. They decided to take her downstairs and Ben made a little nest out of blankets and pillows for them by the fireplace to keep warm. Nora's vomiting had stopped, but her fever persisted despite the medicine Anya had given her. 

Nora was in and out of sleep and very lethargic, Ben had her wrapped up in a blanket and snuggled against his chest for warmth. As the night went on, however, it was becoming clear that Anya was getting worse. She had developed a fever and was trying to push through, forcing herself to keep checking on Nora.

"I've got it, you sleep." Ben said to her, taking the thermometer out of Anya's hand. Anya had been dutifully feeding Nora juice and taking her temperature just about every 30 minutes. Anya curled up next to him and he tucked her in with a blanket. Ben had no idea what to do, but he sure as hell was going to try. He felt perfectly fine, whatever they had he clearly didn't catch. 

For a while keep kept the fire going, while balancing Nora against his chest, taking her temperature every few minutes and giving her juice. Eventually he fell asleep, one firm hand on Nora's back holding her against him, and the other on Anya's hip as she fever slept beside him. 

He was awoken to the feeling of light patting against his face. When he opened his eyes he saw Nora sitting up looking at him. Her hair plastered against her forehead from sweat, but she had a smile on her face. Ben jumped up and pressed his hand against Nora's forehead, her fever had broken. He sighed in relief.

"Mama." Nora said, gently patting Anya's shoulder, but Anya didn't budge. Ben leaned over and pressed his lips to Anya's forehead, Anya still had her fever and she was drenched in sweat. He got up, lifting Nora up with him and went over to the couch and placed Nora down.

"Stay here, Dada is going to take mama to bed." He told her, she just looked up at him and smiled. Ben leaned down and scooped Anya up and took her up to her bedroom, putting her in bed.

"Mmmm... Nora?" Anya asked.

"Her fever broke, she's fine."

"I feel like shit." Anya said.

"I know... I know. Can I get you anything?"

"Water?"

"I'll be right back."

"You have to call Moira and the girls, they cant come if there's sickness in the house." Anya groaned.

"I"m on it." Ben rushed from the upstairs, to the downstairs, and checked on Nora who was being a good girl and staying on the couch. He gave her a kiss on the top of her head before flicking on the holoprojector and turning on Holotoons for her. Anya didn't like when Nora watched too much Holo, but today was going to be an exception. 

Ben rushed the water back up to Anya, but she was already fast asleep again. He then remembered what she had said about Moira. Moira would be coming up the villa path any minute, so he waited by the window for her. Once he saw her, he rushed outside to meet her.

"Nora was up puking all night and now Anya is sick." He said to her.

"Oh, my goodness, alright, I'll tell the girls they have today off, I'll be back later with dinner for you all." Moira said.

"Thanks, I appreciate it." Ben said before turning to head back to the house.

"Master Ben!" Moira called after him, he turned, slightly taken with what she called him.

"You've got this!" She said, giving him a thumbs up. He had this, he just knew it.

***

He had this. He definitely had this. He checked on Anya once more before sitting down with Nora and watching holotoons with her. If anyone looked into seeing them watching, they would have laughed. Nora was just in her diaper and Ben in his pajama pants. Both of them laughed at the same time at the silly parts of the holotoon. Eventually they both got hungry and Ben carried Nora to the kitchen.

"Alright, kid, I'm no chef, but let's see what we can do." He said, sitting her on the counter and rummaging through the kitchen. All he really knew how to make was eggs and toast, so that is exactly what he did. With Nora trying to help, of course. 

Making two plates, one for himself and one for Nora. He stood at the working table at the center of the kitchen and Nora sat on top of it in the middle and they ate together. 

"Is it good?" Ben asked Nora.

"Yuuuum." Nora giggled with a mouth full of eggs. Things were going well. Ben felt proud of himself. 

After breakfast Ben and Nora brought Anya toast, which she nibbled on before rolling back over to sleep. Both Ben and Nora kissed her on the cheek before leaving her to rest. Ben then bathed and dressed Nora before leaving her in her room to play with some toys before showering and dressing himself. 

Nora was still groggy, but she was insistent on doing some playing. Ben didn't want to wear her out too much, and he knew how important it was to Anya that Nora have some "educational" play during the day, so he made up a game. The game involved them both using the Force to push different small objects different distances. 

The game was challenging to Nora, but she was eager to play, and she did remarkably well! He was so proud of her! As it neared her nap time, however, she started to get grumpy and throw a bit of a temper tantrum when she didn't get her way.

"Yep... you're my kid." He said after she chucked a wooden block at the wall in frustration. He picked her up and put her down for her much needed nap. He too decided to take one too.

By the late afternoon, Ben was really getting a hang on doing everything for Nora. He felt more confident and felt sure now that he was doing a good job. He even felt like he had turned a corner when it came to bonding with Nora. When Moira came by to drop off dinner, Ben was proud to show off the arts and crafts he had done with Nora. 

"Well look at you! See, you're doing great." Moira applauded him. Ben and Nora took a tray of food up to Anya after Moira left. They were both excited to see Anya was up and alert in bed. Anya's fever had subsided and she was grateful for the dinner. She was starved. 

"How are you feeling?" Ben said, sitting down on the edge of the bed next to her while Nora climbed up to hug Anya's neck.

"Much better, but gross... I stink and need a shower." She said with a chuckle. 

"Mama stinky." Nora said. They all laughed. 

"What did you two get up to today? Did you survive?" Anya asked.

"We watched someone holotoons, ate breakfast, took a bath, did some Force training, then we..."

"Force.... training? You can't be serious."

"Yeah! Nora show mom what you can do." Ben told Nora. Nora then Proceeded to show Anya how she could now push a chair 3 feet. Ben beamed with pride. 

"What's next... lightsaber dueling?" Anya asked.

"Well.... eventually." He said; Anya just rolled her eyes.

"What am I going to do with you two?" She said taking both of their hands. It was beginning to get late, so Ben decided he would bathe Nora and out her down for bed. He gently rubbed Nora's back as she settled down into bed and she turned to looked at him and smiled. 

"I wuv you dada." She said. His world just about exploded. She had never said that before in the weeks he's been there. Now she was saying it just out of the blue because she wanted to. She meant it. Yeah, she was two and a half, but still. It meant everything to him. 

"I love you too kid." He said before kissing her as she drifted off to sleep. It was like he was walking on clouds as he walked back to Anya's room. 

Anya sat at her vanity, she had eaten and showered, and now she sat in a silk pink robe combing through her wet hair. He watched her for a long time, mesmerized by the mundane activity of her brushing her hair. 

To him, she really was the most beautiful woman in the galaxy. There was no one else like Anya, she was unique in every way possible, and to him it felt like she was made just for him. He felt these feelings... before... but back then he never allowed himself to dwell on them. Afraid of developing a serious attachment, fearful Snoke would rip it all away. But now he was free, truly free. 

Ben entered the room and stood behind her with his hands in his pockets. She tilted her head back to look up at him and he leaned down and kissed her. 

"I love you." He said. 

"And I love you." She responded. Ben moved to stand in front of her, he took both of her hands in his and knelt down on his knees. 

"I wanted to wait a little bit for this, but I'm just feeling good right now." He said.

"What are you talking about?"

"Will you marry me?" He said, rubbing his thumb over the ring he had already given her. She just sat there with her mouth open in awe and gazed into his eyes. 

"Yes... of course!" She said finally breaking the silence. He leaned up and passionately kissed her. He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and hugged her tightly. Things were good. 

Too good. 

*****

Idk I feel about this chapter. Part of me loves it and feels like it's important to the overall storyline. Yet, another part of me feels like no one wants to read sappy fluff. Lol. Anywho... until the next update my friends. ;)


	20. A Matter of Security

Upon their return to Naboo, it was nonstop questioning. Everyday was a new meeting with someone from the resistance or new senate. Finn, Rey, and Poe were grilled about their so called unauthorized trip to Exegol. Rey couldn't help but feel that some of the officials were being a bit hypocritical. How could these leaders of the Galaxy claim that they wanted peace, unity, and to do good for everyone, yet be so harsh and suspicious of a few hundred poor survivors?

The poor survivors were kept at an old resistance facility under heavy guard while they recovered. They had suffered much. Many had wounds that had festered or healed incorrectly, or were just simply extremely malnourished. The medical staff that were assigned to care for them were also kept under heavy guard. No one in the upper ranks of the New Senate or Resistance wanted this information leaked to the public, at least not yet.

A few days after their return, Rey, Finn, and Poe were instructed to "join" the survivors at the secure facility. It wasn't an instruction. It wasn't a suggestion. No. It was an order. 

"Why do I feel like we are in some sort of unofficial prison?" Poe asked.

"Because we are." Finn replied. The only person that had gotten away scot-free when they returned was Chewy, because there was proof that he wasn't on Exegol. 

"Everyone is so concerned with how things look. What about doing what is right?" Rey said. They had all been thinking and feeling the same things. Everything was about politics, policy, and bureaucracy. Rey suddenly had a bad feeling about everything. She was interrupted by her thoughts by the door sliding open and Rose entering the room.

"Hey, how's our boy today?" Poe asked, inquiring about Hux who was being kept under heavy guard.

"He's doing good. Although, I'll never forgive Connix for assigning me to be his babysitter." Rose said.

"What news from the outside world?" Finn asked.

"Well... the good news is the public doesn't know about the survivors, but when it comes to the senators and the War Crimes counsel... that's another story. Many senators are doubting your story." Rose confessed.

"How many times do we have to explain it. I feel like they keep asking us the same questions over and over and over again!" Finn said.

"They want to see if you trip up, if there are holes in your story. Honestly... I'm confused by it all too." Rose confessed.

"We told you, Rose. Finn and I had visions about the survivors." Rey said.

"I know... I know... I trust you... but... there's been new developments." Rose said, looking over her shoulder to make sure the door behind her was closed.

"What developments?" Poe asked.

"There are written statements from witnesses that saw you all on Bespin and Tatooine. We also know that that First Order Captain was with you. Connix is putting pressure on a lot of people to figure things out. She really doesn't buy your story." The group let out a collective sigh.

"I want to trust you all, but..." Rose went to say. 

"But what!?" Finn said defensively. 

"Nothing..." Rose was annoyed now. She had begun to doubt them even though she desperately wanted to trust them. Something was up. 

***

A small meeting of Resistance leaders was held in Connix's office. Connix led the investigation into the First Order Survivors and she could smell something fishy about Rey and Finn's stories. She knew from working with Leia that there were things about the Force that she would never understand, yet at the same time she had lost a measure of trust when it came to force users. 

"Some of these survivors are healthy enough to be released. Some of them are genuinely innocent. We need to come up with a rehabilitation program to help them assimilate into regular society." One advisor said.

"What do we do with the General. If it goes to a public court, it would be a bloodbath." Another said.

"General Hux acted as a spy during the final days, his actions led to the rescue of Poe Dameron, Chewbacca, Finn, and Rey. Not to mention that if it hadn't been for him, we would have never known about the return of the Emperor." Yet another said.

"Might we put him in some sort of protective care, let him live out his days..."

"NO! He is responsible for Starkiller Base! It was under his orders that millions of lives were lost!" One interrupted.

"I find that, in the interests of Galactic security, we move General Hux into a protective setting... for now. As for the others, the evidence is clear that they are innocent and if they aren't, they certainly suffered enough. We should take steps to develop a rehabilitation program." Connix interjected. 

"I have several senators putting pressure on me as to why the two Jedi were able to just up and leave without consultation from the Counsel or the senate." One counselor said.

"We all have been wondering the same thing." Connix said.

"Should we just sit by and allow individuals with extraordinary abilities do and go wherever they please? Is that not how we got into this position to begin with? It has been through the tyranny of Force Users that the rest of us have suffered!" One said.

"Here here!"

"I agree!" 

"I will be personally questioning Finn and Rey later this week. I want a full on inquisition on Captain Anya Harrow. I find it alarmingly suspicious that the confirmed ex-mistress of Kylo Ren has suddenly become such good friends with our two jedi in question. Review all the files. I want all the data." Connix said, aggressively shutting files that sat on the table in front of her. 

***

Poe walked the halls of the facility. It was the only thing he practically could do nowadays now that he was ordered into this confinement. He marched up to the level where they were keeping Hux and gained admittance to the man's room. Hux sat up in a hospital bed attached to an IV line, and a holodrama played in front of him. Hux had gotten his haircut and a clean shave, aside from still looking frail and skinny, he was beginning to look more like his old self.

"What are you watching?" Poe asked, pulling a chair up to sit next to the bed. Poe made it a point to visit the former adversary every few days. He did it out of a measure of guilt, guilt for all the times he personally had been a part of shedding blood.

"Some political drama... it's called Game of Kingdoms... I'm on season 4." Hux said.

"Oh... thats a great show... its a shame they butchered the last season. I wont spoil it for you, but just don't get your hopes up." Poe said crossing his arms. 

"I hate when they do that." Hux complained. 

"I see the barber finally got around to you." Poe said.

"Yes... finally." Hux said rubbing his now clean face. 

"How are you feeling?"

"I started physical therapy yesterday, my leg hurts like a bitch, but it is what it is."

"Again... I'm sorry about that." Poe said.

"It is what it is." Hux chuckled. He really had become a changed man, as if his old life never happened. Poe supposed that trauma and failure did that to a person, made them new. Rose then entered the room carrying a tray of food for Hux. He seemed to sit up straighter in his bed and smiled as she entered. Poe took notice of this.

"Your lunch." Rose said, unfeelingly putting the tray down in front of him.

"Thank you Rose. I appreciate it." he genuinely said.

"Anything else?" She cooly said.

"No. Thank you." he said as she went to exit the room. They waited for a moment, Hux started on his lunch.

"So... where is he now?" Hux said in a low tone. Poe knew this question would be coming. Hux had kept his word and hadn't mentioned that he had seen Ben since the day on Exegol.

"I shouldn't tell you; but he's off Exegol." Poe said.

"Is he with her? With Anya?" Hux asked.

"Yes. They're together... She's made a pretty good life for herself in hiding."

"Good. I'm glad. I think back on how I used to be. I hated him for so long, for a multitude of things, but mostly over her. It wasn't until I woke up on that god forsaken planet that I realized that I never had a right to be angry about her. I had been foolish." Hux said before taking a spoonful of his soup.

"She's a good looking woman, I wont deny that."

"I always wondered what she saw in him... Ren was always such an ass." Hux chuckled.

"I guess when they say there's someone out there for everyone... they mean it." Poe chuckled. Around the corner Rose had briefly stopped to input a report on her datapad. The door to the room hadn't quite shut and she stood there with her eyes wide. She had heard every single thing, and if what she had heard was correct.... it would change everything. 

Rose clicked off her datapad and swallowed the knot in her throat. Tears welled up in her eyes and she rushed down the hall towards Connix's office. 

***

Note:

🤷♀️😈🤷♀️


	21. The Root Cellar

Firewood needed to be chopped for the winter season. Normally one of Moira's sons did the task, but this year... this year Ben Solo was doing the task. The cup Anya had in her had was dry, it had been dry for nearly 5 minutes, yet she still had it in one hand and was wiping it down with a dishrag in the other while staring out the kitchen window at Ben who was chopping wood.

He was wearing another pair of dark colored linen pants that Anya had gotten for him. They fit him rather snugly and hung low on his hips. The shirt he wore was a white linen shirt with a deep V cut neckline, and since he had worked up a sweat, the already thin fabric turned almost translucent as it clung to his sweat covered chest. It also didn't help at all that it was now lightly raining outside. Despite the cooler weather and the rain, Ben still worked, oblivious to the fact that Anya was shamelessly staring at him through the kitchen window.

Each and every time he brought the axe above his head to swing down on a piece of wood, his shirt would ride up, revealing his lower abdomen and that little happy trail that went from his bellybutton down. Anya couldn't help but feel a heat growing in her lower stomach. She clenched her thighs tightly together each time he swung that axe.

It had only been two days since he asked her to marry him. Two days was too long. If it were possible she would have dragged him into the village that very night and banged on the Village Elder's door to preform a Sorgan Marriage pact. They had to wait, they had to wait at least until the end of the week, since that was when Chewy was coming back for a visit. Ben knew that at least Chewy had to be there. As for the others, they had no clue what was up with them.

Anya had sent Rey a message to tell her of the good news, but Rey never responded. Anya and Ben even tried calling, but no answer. Anya had to admit she was a bit worried, but what could she do?

"Miss????" Anya was brought out of her daydream of staring at Ben by the sound of Moira's voice.

"Oh... Yes?" Anya said, turning to Moira. Moira wasn't a naïve woman, she was a woman who had been young once too. Moira had been working in the kitchen all morning with Anya, so she had taken note of how Anya was staring out the window. All Moira could do was smile.

"These jars are ready for the root cellar." Moira said, pointing to the half a dozen jars of canned vegetables sitting on the kitchen table.

"Oh, perfect, I'll take them down in a few minutes." Anya replied.

"When will Chewbacca be back? Master Ben said something earlier about him either arriving today or tomorrow."

"Oh... I am not sure. If he told you today or tomorrow, I'm sure that is the latest news. I know they spoke this morning." Anya replied as she started to gather the jars in a basket.

"And the others?"

"We haven't heard from them."

"Such a shame, do you think they'll be upset to miss everything?"

"I hope not... but we really cant and don't want to wait." Anya said, looking up again to gaze out the window at Ben.

"I can tell..." Moira said under her breath as she exited the room. Anya took the basket of jars in one hand and a glass of water in the other. The rain had let up just a bit, Anya left out the kitchen door and walked through the garden to where Ben was chopping wood and stacking it.

"Hey." He said, lifting up the bottom of his shirt to wipe his face.

"I brought you water." She said, making a point to drag her eyes up and down his body as he stood there, axe in hand.

"Thank you." He said softly, stepping close and taking the glass from her. He smelled like fresh cut wood and sweat. She couldn't help but swallow hard and clench her thighs together. He chugged down the water in a few quick gulps before leaning close to her and kissing her, his lips wet from the water. Her knees just about gave out from under her.

"What are you doing with those jars...... captain?" He crooned in her her ear. Her eyes fluttered closed at that and she felt every single hair on the back of her neck stand up. Of course he had remembered that time he worked along side the mechanics at The Oasis, he remembered how turned on she was seeing him work like that, how wide her eyes had gotten, how breathless she was just seeing him. Just like she was now.

"I'm... I'm taking them to the root cellar.... Commander." She flirtatiously said, bumping him with her shoulder as she walked by. He stood there and blinked a few times. Damn that turned him on. He forgot how much that, in particular, turned him on.

According to the local village law, technically they were already married. The law was that if two unrelated people lived and slept under the same roof together and shared more then 5 breakfast meals together at the same table, they were essentially married. It was a weird obscure law, but it counted. Ben dropped the axe and followed Anya down the path. She was already far ahead of him when he saw her go through a door way built into a nearby hillside which housed the root cellar.

Ben almost pushed the door right off it's hinges when he burst into the root cellar. The space was dimly lit and cool. He stepped down the few steps into the space and pushed the door shut behind him. Where was she? Far in the far corner, Anya was playfully hiding. She kept her hand over her mouth trying to stifle any giggles, but she was failing miserably. "I'm in danger" The thought to herself.

Through the darkness he heard a little giggle. Ahh... there she was. He walked around the shelves that stored jars and jars of canned vegetables and fruits, and she had her back pressed against the stone wall, her hands covering her face as she tried not to giggle.

"I..." He said, grabbing her wrists and prying her hands off her face; "Am not, your commander anymore." He said, pressing her further against the wall and moving one leg between her legs. She let out a little gasp as she found her core firmly pressed against his thigh.

"Supreme Leader?" She questioned.

"I'm not that anymore either... but it'll do for now." He said before bringing his lips to hers. She could taste his sweat on his mouth and the smell of the cut wood, rain, and his sweat filled her senses. He moved on from her mouth down her neck, lightly biting and sucking, careful this time not to leave any marks. As he gave his attentions to her neck and the tops of her breasts, he rubbed his thigh hard against her, hitting all the right spots she needed him to hit.

Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she let out a low moan that echoed in the space. He thought for a brief moment about how he didn't want their first time truly back together to be in a dark, damp, root cellar, yet at the same time it felt almost too perfect. Like he wouldn't have it any other way. They had been patient long enough; they had been doing an intricate tango around each other for weeks.

At any time he could have gone into her bedroom and fucked her brains out in that four poster bed, but he didn't. Also, at any time she could have come into his room and rode him until dawn, but she didn't. Things just needed to happen at their own pace; and the pace was now. They had promised to take things slow, and slow they did, especially with Nora always shadowing them. Right now there was no sign of Nora, she was safe in her bed taking a nap, and even if she did wake up, there was no chance she would walk in on them all the way out in the root cellar.

His damp hair hung over his eyes, yet he gazed down at her, her face radiating euphoria and bliss as she rode his thigh. She locked eyes with him and without having to share a word between them, he asked permission with just a look. She nodded her head yes. Feverishly, he bent down and lifted her up by the backs of her thighs and brought her over and placed her down on a pile of empty wooden crates in the corner. He then began to fuss with the hem of her dress, earnestly trying to bring it up above her waist.

"wait... wait." She said, slowing him down. His hands now rested on the smooth warm skin of her thighs, covered by the fabric of her dress.

"We... we can wait. I'll stop." He said.

"No, I don't want you to... it's just... I don't know." She said, embarrassment flooding her cheeks.

"Tell me."

"I'm not sure I quite... look the same... as before." She sheepishly said.

"What do you mean?"

"Since... since having Nora. I'm worried it wont be the same." He could tell by the tone of her voice and how she looked down at her hands that she was genuinely bothered by this. She was. It was something she had been self conscious about for a while, the fact that her hips were slightly wider and marked with stretch marks, that her stomach wasn't all the way flat any more, and that her tits weren't as perky as they once were. It all bothered her. She also worried that things wouldn't feel the same with him, or that he would notice a difference.

"No... it'll be ok. It's going to be better." He said, caressing her face with his hands.

"Like... I have all these marks on my hips now, and this..." She said patting her lower stomach. To be honest, he hadn't noticed her stomach at all, and he had yet to see her legs.

"Not to mention Nora practically ruined my boobs." Anya said. Ben swallowed hard and leaned down and gently kissed her. He slowly moved his hands up her legs to her hips and gripped her tightly.

"This.... I like this." He said, squeezing at her hips. He lifted the fabric of her dress so that he could see the skin on her hips. She had made it out to be as if her skin was ruined, it was not. He only saw faint pale lines crossing the area.

"I like these too. They tell a story." He said, rubbing his thumbs up and down the marks before kissing her again. He then brought his hands up to the tie that held the neckline of her dress up. He loosened it and filled each hand with her breasts.

"And these, these are even better now." He said, leaning down and kissing each nipple. Anya couldn't help but shutter and sigh feeling the sensation of his lips against her tits again. It felt heavenly.

"And this... this did something amazing... you did something amazing." He said, pressing his hand firmly against her stomach. Anya was drunk with desire for him, and dizzy over how he was now worshiping her body. Any insecurities she felt only moments prior completely melted away. She gripped at his damp shirt and pulled him closer to her.

He snaked his hand further up under the fabric of her dress, brushing his fingertips against the thin fabric of her panties. He smiled into her mouth as he kissed her when he felt just how wet she was for him. He pushed the thin fabric aside and parted her folds, his fingers easily becoming slick. He rubbed her up and down, teasing at her entrance and eliciting a myriad of moans and gasps from her.

She opened her legs wider for him and grabbed him at the waistline of his pants. She was quick with the tie around his waist and soon enough his pants hung low around his hips, freeing his painfully erect cock. She reached out and stroked him a few times while looking in to his eyes. Gently, he pushed her hand aside and positioned himself at her entrance, first coating himself with her wetness. He let out a low moan when the his head touched her inner folds.

Ever so slowly, he pushed himself into her. She held her breath, but after a moment her body relaxed, accommodating him to the full. He couldn't help but toss his head back with a moan. Anya was right when she thought that things would feel different. Different they did feel, they felt better.

Anya's eyes rolled and her eyelids fluttered. He hooked his hand behind Anya's knee and lifted her leg up slightly, allowing him to reach a new depth. She whimpered as he effortlessly found her g spot and started a slow, fluid thrusting into her.

"I missed this. Stars... I fucking missed this." His voice breathy and low.

"I missed you too." She struggled to say between whines and whimpers.

"You're so perfect. You're so beautiful. I love you so much." He groaned, breathless, and pressing his forehead against hers. Anya could not respond. She was unable to, all she could do was leave her mouth hanging open as breathless moans escaped her lips.

"I'm... I'm going to put another baby in you." He moaned.

"Fuuu..." She tried to say something, but she was rapidly nearing her climax and she already knew it was going to hit her harder than any other orgasm ever hit her before.

Her fingers clutched tightly to his shirt and she pulled him tightly to her, she almost wanted him to fully exist inside of her. She crested her peak and she crested hard. She felt all her muscles clench and spasm. He felt her walls clench hard down on him, she was suddenly tighter than he could ever remember, and he too came, spilling into her.

Tears flowed down Anya's cheeks as she came down from her high. She was crying from complete euphoria and bliss. Still inside of her, he pulled her close, he too couldn't help but feel tears welling up in his eyes. He loved her so much it actually physically hurt, and she felt the same towards him.

He kissed her all over her face, kissing away her tears and causing her to giggle. In the dim lighting he could see that she had a pink flush to her, this made him chuckle. She always turned pink.

Slowly he pulled himself from her and put his pants back into their proper place. She slowly got off the pile of crates and had to hold on to his arm to steady herself, her legs were like jelly. Making sure they were both decent, Ben helped her put the canned goods she had originally come down to the root cellar for, in their proper places. 

They exited the root cellar and walked hand in hand back up to the main house. Ben kissed her at the Garden gate before going back to his wood cutting. Anya had a big ol' smile on her face as she walked up the garden path. The smile quickly faded, though, when she looked up to see Moira and the two kitchen maids standing in the doorway.... giggling at her. Anya wanted to be embarrassed, but really she had nothing to be embarrassed about. She just shrugged her shoulders and went back inside.

***

The MillenniumFalcon landed near by the villa, and from the urgency at which Chewy was walking, Ben knew in his gut something was wrong. Tossing the axe to the side, Ben hopped the garden wall and met Chewy half way. Chewy had completed the task Ben had asked him to do, but he brought with him bad news. Ben finally learned why Rey, Finn, and Poe were not responding to any of their messages.

Chewy took Rey and Finn back to Naboo and immediately left them there to go back to Kashyyyk and then on to Courscant for Ben's errand. Chewy explained that the New Senate and War Crimes counsel have confined Rey, Finn, and Poe pending an investigation about Exegol.

Chewy had reason to believe that there was a strong possibility that Ben, Anya, and Nora might be in danger in the near future. Although, to Chewy's knowledge at that time, he was certain no one knew of Ben's existence, he was sure that once the Counsel and Senate started asking enough questions, it would eventually lead them here to Sorgan.

An anger built up in Ben. He turned from Chewy and yelled into the sky and kicked at the grass in frustration. Why? Why could his life never just be simple!? Why!? Why was he constantly haunted!? Ben fell to his knees and began to punch the ground. Chewy knelt down next to him and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. Ben started to calm down, he needed to think.

In the distance another ship made its approach. Ben jumped up, now fully expecting resistance forces coming to drag his family away. Chewy cautioned him. The ship landed close to the Falcon and emerging from it was none other than Lando.

Upon locking eyes with Ben, Lando broke out into a run to meet him. The two men embraced before Lando pushed away and smacked Ben upside his head.

"THATS FOR BEING A DUMB ASS!" Lando said.

"I know... I know." Ben said.

"Come on... we have to do this all quickly." Lando said as he started to walk towards the villa.

"What... what are we doing?" Ben asked.

"Getting you and Anya married. Chewy got me up to speed on everything. If they come, there is a galactic Family Ties Law that will make it difficult to them to press any charges against Anya based on you being here and for them to press charges against you for being here with Anya. Essentially they wont be able to double charge you. It's all a bunch of legal bullshit. It makes no sense to me." Lando said.

In the distance, Anya had heard the commotion and stood in the doorway, now with Nora on her hip. Something wasn't right. Ben looked very distressed, Lando also didn't have a good look on his face, and Chewy was marching towards the villa.

"Choochoo!!!!" Nora cried out, Anya put Nora down and the toddler ran towards the Wookiee who gladly picked her up. Lando and Ben soon approached and they both looked at Anya with sad eyes.

Anya stood in a state of shock as Lando explained everything to her. All this time Anya worked so hard to stay away, to stay safe, and to stay hidden, and now it was just going to crumble around her. Ben reached for Anya and held her close. Getting married was supposed to be a happy occasion, an occasion in which they wanted to celebrate and party. Instead they sat around the dining room table and just signed a Galactic Marriage license with Lando as their officiant.

Anya called Moira, the other maids, and the few security guards into the room after the license was signed and explained to them what was happening. Anya could hear the soft sniffles of one of her maids as she cried and the few security guards just blinked in a state of shock.

"I understand that now you know all of this and about where I come from and who Ben is that you might not want to stay here anymore. If you wish to leave, you may." Anya said, but no one moved.

"We'll stay with you miss. You've been good to us." One guard said. Anya could feel tears welling up in her eyes and a knot stuck in her throat.

"What of miss Nora?" Moira asked. All eyes immediately went to Nora who was sound asleep in Chewy's arms. It was at that moment that Anya completely broke down. Falling to her knees she sobbed. What of Nora? Will they take her? What will happen to her? Ben knelt down and pulled Anya to his chest.

"Why don't you all just run? Run away, leave this place?" One guard asked.

"Whether it be tomorrow or ten years from now... eventually we have to answer for our pasts." Ben said.

"There are innocent friends of ours who are tied up in this. If we run, what happens to them?" Anya added.

"Do they know about Nora? I could take her. I could keep her hidden." Moira offered. Both Ben and Anya looked towards her. It was a thought they both didn't want to have, but they needed to think of something.

"I could take her as well. I can certainly ensure her safety in Cloud City... not to mention she'll be spoiled." Lando said, gently patting Nora's sleeping head.

"Take her. You should take her tonight. For all we know they could be on their way at this very moment." Anya said getting up and leaving the room. Ben followed Anya upstairs as she went into Nora's room. He watched helplessly as Anya packed up as many items of Nora's as she could. Ben could tell Anya was putting up a front. Shoving her feelings aside, not allowing herself to really feel. In a way he was too. He didn't want to have to do this. He didn't even want to be in this decision, but what mattered most was Nora's safety. He stepped into the room and helped Anya pack her things.

They woke Nora up and put on cheery faces to tell her that she was going on a surprise trip with Auntie Moira, Uncle Lando, and Uncle Choochoo. Little Nora didn't know any better and was as excited as could be. With fake smiles on their faces kissed and hugged Nora goodbye before they waved the ships off.

"Love you mama, love you dada." Nora shouted and waved as Chewy carried her up the ramp of the falcon.

Once the ships were out of sight, Anya fell to her knees and sobbed. A cry came out of her that was inexplicable and would cause goosebumps to rise on your skin. Ben too fell to his knees and sobbed along side her. They held each other in the open, cold air of the outside until they had no more tears left to cry.

****

In case you didn't realize it by now.... I have no posting schedule, some days I'll pump out two chapters, other days I'll stare at a blank screen with writers block. Any who... I hope you still love reading!!!

Xoxo.


	22. Reckoning

Rose stared at the closed door that led into Connix's office. She had yet to knock or signal to anyone that she was there. Instead, she just stared at the metal surface unsure of what to do with herself. What if she had misheard or misunderstood the conversation between Hux and Poe? What if she was overreacting. Spreading false information could very well put her friends in a horrible situation.

Rose turned from the door and marched down the hall towards Finn and Rey's room. Without hesitation this time, she banged on the door. When they didn't answer the first time, she banged again. Finally she heard a grumbling inside and Finn cracked open the door, sticking only part of his head out.

"Yes?" He said, a bit annoyed.

"I need to talk to the both of you." She said.

"We aren't decent right now. Can it wait?"

"NO." Rose firmly said.

"Fine.. hold on." He said, closing the door. Rose heard the muffled voices of Rey and Finn on the other side and after a good two minutes the door opened again and Finn motioned for Rose to enter. The quarters on this base were very small and simple, consisting at least of a small sitting area, private fresher, and bedroom. Their bedroom door was shut and Rose heard the toilet flush in the fresher. Rey emerged, wrapped tightly in her long bathrobe.

"Is everything alright?" Rey asked.

"Did you bring him back? Did you bring Kylo Ren back from Exegol and is he hiding on Sorgan?" Rose demanded of them. Both of them looked stunned and worked hard to keep blank looks on their faced.

"Rose. What are you talking about? " Finn asked.

"I heard Poe and Hux talking about someone being hidden on Exegol, and I heard Hux mention Ren. Don't lie to me!!!" Rose now raising her voice.

"Rose, calm down. No. No we did not bring him back." Rey firmly said. In her heart she justified it to be true because the persona of Kylo Ren was dead, it was Ben Solo who lived. Rose's chest was heaving up and down, she looked between Finn and Rey a few times before looking down at her feet.

"Fine. I must have misheard. I'm sorry to have bothered you." She said as she turned to leave the room. Finn went to reach out to her to stop her, but Rey motioned to him and told him no. They waited a good few moments after she had left to ensure that she was truly gone.

"What the fuck do we do!?" Finn loudly whispered to Rey.

"We hope she buys it." Rey said.

Out in the hall Rose began her walk back towards her own rooms. She now felt entirely stupid, yet still unsettled. As she walked she pushed past other colleagues and personnel until she bumped shoulders with Poe.

"Hey!" Poe said.

"Oh... Sorry." She said, attempting to just turn away and keep walking.

"Hey, wait."

"What is it, Poe?" Rose said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"So... don't get mad; but I think Hux likes you." Poe said.

"What do you mean?" She said getting annoyed now.

"You know what I mean. It wouldn't kill you to go a little softer on him. I know he used to be a total douche, but the guy's changed."

"Ok Poe. I'll keep that in mind." She said before turning and continuing to walk away. Poe was right. Hux had changed, he wasn't a total douche anymore. Immediately Rose's mind went back to the conversation she had overhear. Clearly she wasn't going to get any information from Rey, Finn, or even Poe, but maybe she could get it out of Hux.

Rose turned around and instead of going back to her rooms, she went immediately towards the cafeteria. She collected a singular slice of chocolate cake, and then went back to the ward where Hux was being kept. Hux was the only patient being kept in that wing, and because of that there were barely any personnel or medical staff around. In fact, the medical staff left their supply cart right out in the open and unlocked.

Part of Rose wanted to feel guilty, but the unsettling feeling of not knowing for sure about what was going on with Exegol was eating at her. Opening up the drawer of the medical cart, Rose found the drug she knew for certain would work. It was a harmless painkiller, a commonly prescribed one, but it's biggest side effect was that it made it's users very lucid. Rose popped the pill in a little cup and went into Hux's room carrying the cake and drug.

"Hey hey!" She cheerfully said to him as she entered the room. Hux sat up in the bed once more and smiled at her, something new he had been doing for the past week or so.

"I brought you cake, and medicine your nurse wants you to have today. Something about it helping with your therapy." Rose lied.

"Oh, how thoughtful of you. Thank you." Hux said as she sat the cake down in front on him and handed him the little cup with the unsuspecting pill in it. Without even questioning it, Hux knocked the pill back and began to devour the cake.

"What are you watching on the holo?" Rose said, feigning kindness and interest. Her heart was racing and she was sweating, but she put on a good air about her that hid her unease.

"Game of Kingdoms... have you seen it?"

"Yes... who hasn't!?" She chuckled.

"Me apparently."

"This is a good episode." Rose said, pointing to the holo and settling down in the chair next to his bed. She glanced over at the clock on the wall. Fifteen minutes, thats all she needed until the medication started to set in.

They watched the holodrama for a while while Hux ate the cake. Rose then began to ask a series of innocent questions, which Hux answered. She started first by talking about the holodrama and his opinions on the characters. After twenty minutes the medicine started to set in.

Hux babbled on and on about his love for the character of Tywin Lannister. If only Hux knew the ending to the story. Rose just chuckled to herself.

"The man is a political and strategic genius. I also particularly have a fondness for his youngest son.... the small one Tyrion... oh... and that asshole Joffrey... I'm so glad he's dead. I hated him almost as much as I hated Kylo Ren... go figure." Hux babbled and slurred. Rose then took the opportunity to jump on that last statement.

"Kylo Ren and Joffrey... were they similar?" Rose asked.

"I wouldn't say so... they both were just assholes. Kylo was always an asshole to me. He got everything he ever wanted."

"He did? What did he get?"

"He was Snoke's favorite. He got to be Supreme Leader. He got the girl that I wanted. Now... now the man is off somewhere with said girl, probably living the dream. A total asshole. I of course don't mean that anymore, I'm sure we are both changed men." Hux slurred out, not even realizing at all what he had just said. His eyes were glossy and he slumped in his bed while the holodrama played out in front of him.

"Well... Like Joffrey... Kylo Ren is dead." Rose said, desperately wanting more confirmation.

"Yeah... yeah... that's what they want you to think. But those damn force users always listen to their own rules." He said as his eyes began to grow heavy.

"You seem tired. Why don't you take a nap?" Rose smiled.

"I think I will." Hux said. Rose reached towards the holoprojector and switched it off just as Hux began to nod off. Smoothing out the front of her shirt has rushed out of the room and went straight to Connix's office.

***

Ben stared at Anya's chest as it rose up and down with each breath. Her eyes were swollen and her cheeks tear stained, but she slept peacefully. He laid on his side in her bed just watching her sleep for the past hour. After they had said goodbye to Nora, they cried together outside before coming inside to just cry some more. Eventually they made their way to Anya's... now their room, and held each other close until sleep overtook them.

Ben had woken up early and just stayed in bed, not wanting to disturb Anya by moving. He used that time to think and meditate. He desperately wanted to solve this problem they were facing, it seemed incredibly unsolvable. His only solace was that he knew Nora was safe. If anything, that was all that mattered.

Anya stirred in her sleep, eventually her eyes fluttering open. She squinted for a moment before stretching and inching her way closer to him to rest her head on his chest.

"Please tell me yesterday was a bad dream." She said, her voice hoarse from sleep.

"I wish I could."

"Did you sleep at all?"

"Yeah... I woke up about an hour ago."

"Oh."

"Do you want coffee?" He said before kissing her forehead.

"Yes please."

"I'll go make some. Everything is going to be alright, let's get up and just start our day. How's that sound?" He said, trying to be the voice of reason.

"I supposed." She said, letting go of him. Ben got up and put on a shirt before leaving their bedroom to head to the kitchen. The house was quiet, too quiet, he didn't like it. He could only sense Anya's presence in the house, he hadn't realized how second nature it had become to feel Nora's too. Ben rubbed his face with his hands as the water for their coffee heated on the stove. He then felt a familiar shift, a shift in the force that he hadn't felt in a long time.

"Rey?" He said, turning to see her standing there as if she were in the same room as him.

"Ben. They're coming! They know." Rey frantically said.

"Where are you?" Ben said.

"They have us held on a Base on Naboo. Connix wouldn't let things go, they figured it all out. I don't know entirely how. They just came and moved Finn and I to an actual jail cell. They're calling us traitors!"

"We were suspecting this, Chewy warned us."

"Where are you? Are you still on Sorgan?"

"Yes. We sent Nora away, she's safe."

"Good. You two need to run, go and hide. They just moved us to a cell, they'll be there in minutes or hours, I don't know."

"Rey... we will face this, all together." Ben said. It was then that the Force bond broke and the pot of water on the stove began to boil. Ben made the coffees and brought two mugs back up to the bedroom.

"Drink up.... they're coming." He told Anya.

***

Loud banging woke Finn and Rey up. Finn rushed to the door, only to have it open and armed resistance fighters walk in, followed by Connix.

"You two are under arrest for Galactic treason." Connix flatly said.

"On what charges!?" Finn asked.

"Aiding and abetting a war criminal. Get dressed." She barked. Finn and Rey knew that this was the end. Quietly they dressed before returning to stand before Connix. Connix heartlessly ordered for their lightsabers to be confiscated and their hands bound in binders. They were marched out of their rooms while base personnel stared and whispered. They felt like they had been put on some sort of parade or walk of shame.

Taken to holding cells, they walked passed a cell where Poe was already being held. Rey and Finn were purposely separated, each put into their own cell.

"I'm beginning to think that some of the senators are right.... You force users think you can do whatever you want. That the rules don't apply to you. Well news flash... we are all citizens of this galaxy, we all must abide by the same rules." Connix said, walking now between the three cells.

"Connix... you have no idea what you're talking about." Poe said.

"I don't? That's a shame. What I do know is this: For far too long our Galaxy has been held at the whims of force users. Millions of lives have been lost, all because a select few have decided that the rules don't apply to them. The galaxy deserves better."

"If you would just allow us to explain!" Rey tried to plea.

"Save it for the courts. We know all about your little rescue mission of Kylo Ren, a team has already been sent to apprehend him." Connix said before turning away. Rey turned around in her cell and squeezed her eyes shut. She wanted to scream, she wanted to yell, something. It was then that she felt that all too familiar shift....

***

Anya and Ben both felt numb. They moved in what felt like slow motion, first drinking their coffee, then showering and dressing, and now just sitting on the staircase waiting. It felt like forever, but the anticipation was finally released when they heard the sounds of multiple ships coming out of hyperspace and entering the atmosphere above their heads.

Ben put his arm around Anya and wit his other hand he caressed her face before tenderly kissing her. He kissed her with softness and affection, making sure to take his time.

"I'm sorry I did this to you." He said.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Anya replied before kissing him once more. They could hear the villa being surrounded by both ships and people. After a moment, they stood, and mustering up courage, they went for the front door.

Hand in hand they exited the villa and walked towards the wall gate. Through the gate they could see many resistance fighters with their weapons aimed and ready to fire. Hand in hand Ben and Anya stepped out of the security of the villa walls.

"Hands up!!!" Someone shouted at them. Ben dropped Anya's hand and raised his arms above his head, so did Anya. What happened next happened very quickly. Ben and Anya complied as hands reached for them, bound them, and pulled them towards a waiting ship. Words and accusations were uttered, but they paid no mind to them. Ben and Anya were brought up into a ship and placed in a holding cell. At least they were together.

Despite their hands being bound in binders, they sat next to each and held each others hands while the ship took off. The flight to Naboo was a rather short one. The ship docked somewhere where they couldn't see the outside world.

When they were escorted off the ship, Ben saw faces of people he recognized. People from his past. People that had worked alongside his parents. They all had blank expressions on their faces, unsure of how to feel or react at seeing him. Connix emerged from out of the crowd of people and with a smug look on her face, looked Ben and Anya up and down.

"Ben Solo... also known as Kylo Ren... you are hereby under arrest for crimes against the Galaxy. You will be detained pending further investigations as well as any court trials. You will be assigned a lawyer. Anya Harrow... you are under arrest for aiding, abetting, and concealing a wanted criminal. You also will be detained pending further investigations as well as any court trials. You also will be assigned a lawyer. Do you have any questions?" Connix said. Anya could tell that Connix was the type of woman who had a chip on her shoulder. Someone who only recently had been granted a measure of power.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that according to the Galactic Constitutional code 18995, also known as The Family Ties Act, that spouses are permitted special treatment and a shared lawyer?" Anya said with a snarky tone to her voice. Connix's eyebrows rose. Someone jumped out of the crowd and whispered to Connix, the expression on Connix's face changed, she seemed annoyed.

"You're right. My apologies." She flatly said. Ben and Anya were then taken to the floor where prison cells were kept. As they walked down the hall, they saw that they were not alone. They saw Rey, Finn, and Poe all being held too. A guard went to open a single cell for them, but Connix stepped in.

"Separate them." She ordered.

"But..." The guard said, knowing full well that the Family Ties Act did not permit that spouses be separated.

"I said... Separate them." She said again, this time giving a snobbish look at Anya. Connix was clearly trying to flex power here. A guard step forward and nudged Anya into another cell, while Ben was placed in the first one.

****

NOTE:

Yes Game of Kingdoms is a Game of Thrones reference. And yes OF COURSE Hux admires Tywin... like thats a no duh situation right there.

I want to thank all my regular readers who like and comment on just about all of my chapters. It really does mean a lot to me!!!

I also want to say thank you to everyone who follows and interacts with me on TikTok!!! My username there is @commander_nanata !

I have plans for this story. There were some plot points that have been raised in TLJ, Solo, and now The Mandalorian that I noticed, mainly about how vast the Galaxy is and that the Star Wars universe is vast and multifaceted. Not everyone is a Force user, and the galaxy is much bigger than "Us vs Them". So I just want to explore, and I do sincerely hope I am doing it all justice and that it all makes sense!!!

In a TikTok I mentioned there were some other leading female characters from other shows/series that I admire that have inspired me, and I wanted to list them here in hopes that it will help add to the depth of the story when y'all are using your imaginations!!!

Joan Holloway (Mad Men) -She's a HUGE inspiration

Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley (Vanity Fair Amazon Prime Version)

Sybil Crawley (Downton Abbey)

Happy reading!!!


	23. Circus

Lando was one of the first people who was informed about Anya and Ben's arrests. He faked shock and surprise, but deep down he was angry. He sent a message to Naboo informing Connix that he will arrive the following morning to "help" with the investigations. Before he ended the call with Connix's, however, she asked him about Chewbacca's whereabouts.

"I haven't seen him. When the kids came to see me he wasn't with them." Lando said, knowing full well that Chewbacca was just in the next room.

"We will have to issue a warrant out for his arrest, he is involved as well."

"I see. Connix.... are you sure you're going about this the right way? After everything..."

"I cannot stand by and just allow people to go and do what they want whenever they want! Not to mention Kylo Ren must face justice."

"I'll be there in the morning." Lando said before he ended the transmission.

"You know nothing Connix." Lando said shaking his head. In the background he could hear the sound of a child playing in a different room. It had been a few days since the initial arrests and their return to Bespin. The first few nights with Nora were rough, but she got through them. She cried for her "mama" and "dada", but as of last night things seemed to have turned a corner and she went to sleep without a fuss.

Lando got up and went into the next room where Chewbacca was lounging on a couch, Moira was knitting, and Nora was playing with her all her new toys that Lando had already showered her with. The toddler ran up to him carrying a little toy ship and wanted him to take it.

"I have to leave in the morning to go deal with this whole mess." Lando said to Chewbacca and Moira, while making play flying motions with the toy ship.

"Aruuugh" Chewy said.

"I don't know how long I'll be. I'll keep in contact with Moira. Chewy... I'm afraid Connix has issued a warrant for your arrest. So it would be best if you either stayed here and made yourself scarce, or... ya know... go hide. You and Han were always so good at that." Lando said, sitting down in a nearby chair. Chewy seemed to nod his head in agreement.

"Arwwgh weeegh arrrg!!!"

"I know I know." Lando said, of course the Wookiee wasn't going to leave Nora behind. Lando looked down at Nora who was now hugging his leg. He now had a new love for the little girl. She was a very well behaved toddler, with the exception only being when she got tired or hungry. She was a good listener, and was exceptionally smart. Moira told Lando all about how much Anya worked with her doing little activities and lessons. The kid was bright.

"Come on kid... why don't you come help your Uncle Lando pack for a trip." He said, taking her little hand and leading her from the room.

***

The days melted into each other. Anya slept not out of necessity, but rather out of sheer boredom. They had all been kept in a sort of solitary confinement for what Anya calculated for be, two weeks. After the first few days she started saving the napkins that came with her dinner trays as a way to keep count of the days. Their cells were located deep within the base and had no windows and the lights never turned all the way off.

Every morning... or what they all assumed to be morning, Rey would call out out of the tiny window in her cell to check on every one. She would do a sort of roll call. The solitude was beginning to get to them. Relief finally came once Lando had arrived.

Lando had worked tirelessly to understand the crimes counsel's position on everything as well as to Senate leaders. Information was still withheld from the public, but it was only a matter of time. Connix was getting antsy. It was almost like she wanted public outrage over the whole situation. She pushed back hard against Lando and his defense of the group.

Politics within the galaxy had never been easy to understand or manage. Even during the height of the Republic, before the rise of the Empire, things were riddled with corruption, bias, and nepotism. Lando could see that that hadn't changed. Dealing with the Senate or even watching them and how they worked was akin to being part of a circus.

The Senate leaders didn't care much about the wellbeing of Ben, Anya, Finn, Rey, Poe... and even Hux. They only cared about how things looked. They also only cared about how things would effect them. All of them eloquent performers of sorts who loved to preform for themselves and watch others entertain them, all for the so called "good" of the galaxy.

Lando was able to effectively sway Counsel Leaders and Senate Leaders to move the group to a more humane holding facility. He argued that things would only look best for everyone if the whole situation was kept quiet. Which they all agreed, except for Connix of course. She was out for blood.

The Senate Leaders also agreed on the fact that given the status of group, that this might be a case unfit for the Galactic Court. Instead they wanted to start a closed Senate hearing to decide further action. This was something Lando was happy about. The "kids" would be moved to a more comfortable facility, and the case would remain out of the public eye.... for now.

"What the hell is this!?" Lando shouted when he was finally brought to the cell block they all were being held on. The poor officers who escorted him down there really had nothing to say. Lando knew that the conditions were unsatisfactory, but he hadn't anticipated that they all would be kept in such extreme solitude.

The cell doors were opened and everyone was excited to see Lando. They wanted nothing more than to hug him, but the officers stopped them and they were told they had to have their hands bound again. Ben looked over at Anya. For two weeks all he heard was her voice through the small cell door windows. He wanted nothing more than to just kiss her, but that would have to wait.

"I have good news... You all are being moved to a different facility. No more cells. You'll be on a house arrest in an apartment block near the capital palace. Also, things will remain out of the courts for now." Lando said to them.

"What's the bad news? There's always bad news." Poe asked.

"There will be a Senate hearing. It'll be a closed hearing, but the senate leaders will then decide if you all are put before an actual galactic judge and jury."

"I see." Rey said.

"How are our friends?" Anya asked, hoping Lando would get the hint that she was actually asking about Anya and Moira since the officers were near by.

"Your friends from Sorgan have taken the news well. It was rough at first, but they're doing just fine." Lando said with a wink to Ben and Anya. Relief filled Anya, not knowing about Nora for two weeks had been the biggest source of anxiety for her. Was she sleeping at night? Was she getting all her naps? Was she behaving? Did she miss them? Did she ask for them? These were all questions Anya had ringing through her mind. Questions she would have to somehow figure out how to ask Lando later.

The group was escorted out of the cell block and through the halls of the base and finally into a windowless transport shuttle. Aboard the shuttle, Ben was finally able to touch Anya. Even though his hands were bound in binders, he lifted his arms over her head and around her body to hug her tightly. One of the officers was about to say something when Lando intervened and struck fear into the very soul of the man.

The flight to their final destination was a rather short one. They were ushered off the shuttle and found themselves in a spacious, albeit plain, condo.

"I couldn't get the best amenities, but I'm sure this is better than a tiny cell." Lando said.

"Oh... Way better." Finn said, flopping down on the couch in the living space.

"You'll be here under constant guard. 24/7. You won't be able to leave, you're still technically prisoners." Lando said as the officers started to free them from bonds. Anya rubbed at her wrists once hers were off. The two officers left, leaving them alone finally with Lando.

"Nora...she's ok?" Ben immediately said once they were sure the officers were gone.

"She's fine. She's being spoiled with plenty of toys." Lando chuckled.

"Does she miss us?" Anya asked.

"Yes. She asks about you throughout the day, but she's doing ok."

"Thank the stars." Anya said.

"Lando, how long is this all going to take?" Poe asked.

"Weeks... months... I can' say. I do know that you can expect hearings to start at the end of the week. The senate leaders are gathering together and forming a plan to meet with you all individually." Lando said. Everyone just let out a collective sigh.

"You all get comfortable. Two bedrooms are down that hall, and the other two are down the other. I need to get back, I have several meetings I need to attend to regarding what to do with the Exegol survivors." Lando said. He bid them farewell before they were locked into the condo. Everyone immediately began to search around the place. They could look out the windows, but they could not open them. Outside the peephole of the front door they could see two armed guards, and looking out the window they saw that there were guards patrolling the building below.

After a while everyone claimed a bedroom and retreated to their own space. Finn and Rey chose a room down on the east side of the condo, Poe claimed the room across the hall from them, and Ben and Anya claimed one of the rooms on the west side of the condo.

"I feel absolutely disgusting." Anya said, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"I look disgusting." Ben said, looking in the mirror at his two week unshaven face. The conditions at the base had been harsh. The isolation was the worst but the fact that they hadn't been permitted proper bathing facilities or a change of clothes came in at a close second.

"I kind of like the scruff." Anya said. Ben smiled and walked over to her.

"Yeah? Well do you like it now?" He said, burying and rubbing his face into her neck. She giggled and laughed and tried to push him away, but he effectively pushed her down on to the bed. He had his arm wrapped around her and he held her close for a moment while she just stared up at the ceiling.

"I feel like laughing is wrong right now." She said after a while.

"I know what you mean."

"I'm so glad Nora is ok."

"Me too, but you want to know what she would say if she were with us right now?" Ben asked.

"What?"

"She would say 'No sad mama! Be happy!'" He said trying to imitate her little voice. Ben had a point. Although they were allowed to be sad, and worried, and stressed, they still needed to find little happinesses in the situation. It would be the only way they would get through it.

"You're right. I'm going to shower." She said, pushing his arm off of him and getting up. "You're welcome to join me." She said looking over her shoulder as she made her way to the adjoining 'fresher. Ben hopped up and looked in the mirror one more time. He decided the scruff needed to go, so he started rummaging through the drawers in the room. He found that they had been so generously gifted with clothes, they were pretty much "one size fits all" jail uniforms, but they would do.

Anya stripped and started the shower. She allowed the water to just flow over her, the heat from it melting away some of the stress she was carrying. Everything was steamy and humid when Ben entered the space. He began to rummage through the bathroom drawers until he found a razor.

"I found razors." He announced.

"Oh... hand me one please." She said. He weaved his hand behind the shower curtain and handed it to her before turning on the sink and getting to work on shaving. He thought for a few moments about how nice this particular moment was. They were comfortably happy together, despite everything that was currently happening, it felt like a small piece of domestic bliss.

Ben rinsed the last bit of shaving cream off his face before also getting into the shower. Anya jumped in surprise when the shower curtain pulled back, he couldn't help but laugh. She stepped out of the way so that he could get under the water. He tossed his head back and let the water pour over him, she couldn't help but stare at his entirely naked frame.

"I feel you staring." He said.

"I cant help it."

"Hand me the soap." He said, she turned around to grab the bar and hand it to him, as she did he looked over her naked frame. To him, she still had the best ass in the galaxy. Taking the soap from her hand he deliberately dropped it and kicked it to the far side of the shower.

"Pick it up." He ordered in a dark, deep tone. She knew exactly what he meant. With a crooked smile on her face and one arched eyebrow, Anya slowly turned around and pulled her hair over one shoulder to give him and entirely uninhibited view of her back. Slowly she bent over at her waist and picked up the bar of soap.

He reached his hands out and gripped at her hips, kneading at her flesh there before taking one hand and slapping her right ass cheek. She let out a surprised yelp and stood right back up. With his hands firmly gripping her waist he pulled her to him, pressing her ass against his now hardening length.

"Now... wash me." He commanded as he slowly humped against her a few times. He only released his hold slightly to allow her to turn around, now he had a cheek firmly grasped in each hand as she brought the bar of soap over his body. She slowly sudsed him up, getting soap all up and down his chest, arms, and neck, before bringing the soap lower. In a way she was teasing him, moving slowly while he had her in his grip.

She rubbed the bar of soap in her hands, gathering enough bubbles and slip, before placing the bar on the little shelf in the shower. She brought her hands low and while maintaining eye contact with him, gathered both his balls in her hands while fully ignoring his shaft. She slowly began to fondle him, his eyes rolled and he let out a low moan before lowering his head to rest on her shoulder.

When she decided that his balls were clean enough, she moved her hand to his length and slowly gave it a few pumps. He released one hand off her ass and brought it to the front, cupping her sex and pushing two fingers between her folds. She let out a gasp and bucked her hips into his hand. He pulled his hand away and rubbed his fingers together, noting how slippery and coated they were with her wetness.

He brought his fingers up to her mouth. She didn't have to be told what to do next, she was well aware of the routine. She took both his fingers into her mouth, sucking them clean, all while maintaining lustful eye contact with him.

"Get out. Dry off. There's body lotion on the counter, I want you buttered up and on the bed when I get out." He crooned into her ear. Anya smiled and reached up on her tip toes to kiss him. It was a slow, passionate kiss and he almost changed his mind about her getting out of the shower, but she broke the kiss and pulled aside the shower curtain, exiting the shower.

Anya quickly, and excitedly dried off with the nearby towel, and took the bottle of body lotion and began working it into her skin. She thought back to times on The Oasis, when he would catch her freshly out of the shower and still slightly slippery from her body lotion. He always said that that was his favorite.

Ben finished washing himself before shampooing his hair. Once completed with the shower, her barely dried himself off before he went into the bedroom. Anya had closed the curtains in the room, so the room was dark, and she was sitting up on the bed, with only the top sheet covering her.

He walked over to the side of the bed and ripped the sheet off of her and grabbed her ankle, pulling her down closer to him. He climbed up onto the bed and hovered over her, crashing his mouth on to hers. He explored her mouth with his, and with his hands he rubbed and squeezed at all the soft parts of her body, bringing his hands up to her tits and massaging.

He worked his way down, kissing her neck, licking between her breasts, nipping at her belly button, until he brought his lips over her clit. He sucked lightly, eliciting a soft moan from her. They both knew they needed to be quiet. Heaven forbid they reveal to the others their exploits.

Ben smiled against her, humming and working his tongue up, down, and around. Anya tangled her fingers and hands into his hair and pressed his head down harder against her. For a brief moment, he sucked her clit hard before releasing it with an obnoxious pop!

"Get on your hands and knees." he said. Anya moved quickly, flipping herself over and getting onto her knees, bending over and arching her back. She spread her legs wide for him, giving him an unhindered view of what he wanted to see. He smacked her ass once again, the smack being louder than he intended for it to be, before he guided his length between her folds, coating himself in her dripping fluids.

He slowly pushed himself into her, her walls pulsing against him. He stifled his moan into a low hum, and she firmly bit her bottom lip. Feeling him inside of her just felt so good. He could feel by how tight she was that she was nearing her climax, he brought his hand around to her front and began to slowly work at her clit.

"Ohh fuck." She said into the mattress.

"Shhh." He said, as he thrusted in and out of her.

"I'm gonna..."

"I know... be quiet!" He said, Anya reached for a pillow and covered her head with it just as she crested her peak. He heard a few small squeaks form her, but mostly he felt how hard she clenched down around him. She pushed his hand off her over stimulated clit as he continued to bang into her. He felt his own wave of pleasure roll over to him and in a sudden burst he spilled all that he had into her, holding his breath as he did so.

When it was over, he pulled himself from her and flopped on to the mattress. With hobble legs, Anya lowered herself, resting her head on his chest as they both fought to catch their breath.

"You were quiet... for once." he said before kissing her and pulling her tight against him.

***

Poe had showered, shaved, and changed. He now sat alone in the living space of the condo. He explored a few areas in the condo, saw that there was a holoprojector, some games, and the kitchen was fully stocked. He made himself a bowl of instant noodles before sitting down to turn on the holoprojector.

It had been some time since they arrived, a two hours to be exact. Neither Finn and Rey, nor Ben and Anya had come out of their rooms yet. In fact, from the east side of the condo he heard a few rhythmic light thuds against the wall, and from the west side of the condo he heard what sounded like a crack or a smack... he couldn't tell. Poe rolled his eyes and turned the volume up on the holoprojector.

"I wish BB-8 was here." he said into his bowl of noodles.

******

hey hey hey, sorry this chapter is a shorter one!

So I compiled a list of songs that I've listened to and that have inspired the story so far. I also would like to think that these are all the songs Anya likes listening to ;)

I haven't gotten around to making a playlist for it... I mean I have... but I haven't made a secondary Spotify since, if you can't tell, I write this whole thing anonymously. Any who... here are the songs and they follow the story in order from start to present so far.

Cool Girl - Tove Lo

Gasoline - Halsey

You Should See Me In a Crown - Billie Eilish

TiO - Zayn

Fingers - Zayn

Often - The Weeknd

Like I Would - Zayn

Say It - Maggie Rogers

No Time To Die - Billie Eilish

If I say - Mumford & Sons

Stuck with You - Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber

Watermelon Sugar - Harry Styles


	24. Questions

Ben woke up before Anya, he turned over to see that a beam of sunshine made it's way through the cracks in the curtains, illuminating Anya. Her hair was fanned over her pillow and she was partially covered by the sheets. Gently scooting over to her he placed a kiss on her shoulder, her back, and her hip. She stirred for a moment but she did not wake.

He carefully got out of the bed and dressed in one of the plain grey prison style garments that had been provided for them. He left the bedroom and went out to find that Rey and Finn were already awake, working in the kitchen on breakfast.

"Well one of us is going to have to change." Finn jokingly said, noting that they all were now stuck in the same clothes. Ben looked down at his shirt and cracked a smile.

"Is there coffee?" He asked.

"Yeah, I just made a pot." Rey said, pointing towards the coffee maker. Ben began work on making two cups of coffee, one for him and one for Anya.

"Did you all sleep well?" Ben asked.

"We did." Rey said drawling out the two simple words and smiling into her coffee cup.

"Yeah... it was great. You?" Finn said, keeping his back turned to Ben.

"Slept like a baby." Ben responded, slapping Finn on the shoulder before taking the two coffee's back to his room. Once he was gone, both Finn and Rey turned to each other and quietly laughed.

"You think they heard us?" Rey whispered.

"Nah." Finn responded.

Back in their bedroom, Ben squatted down on Anya's side of the bed and waved the coffee mug under her nose. The scent of the brew gently woke her and her eyes fluttered opened.

"Hmmm good morning." She said.

"Good morning." He said, leaning down and kissing her forehead.

"Do I smell breakfast?"

"Yes, Finn and Rey are cooking." He said as she started to sit up. She stretched her arms above her head, causing the sheet to fall from her naked frame. He raked his eyes over her before handing her her coffee.

"Thank you." She said, taking it and covering herself with the sheet again.

"I think Lando said he was coming by sometime this morning."

"Oh that's right. I'll be up soon." She said before taking her first sip of coffee.

When Lando arrived, he carried with him three Datapads and a bunch of digital documents. There was a lot to go over. The War Crimes counsel, naturally, had unearthed a multitude of crimes against Ben, they even went as far as to try and tie Anya to a few of them. As for the Senate Leaders, they had many alleged crimes against Rey, Finn, and Poe.

"You need to analyze all of these documents, be ready to answer any questions they have about them. Also, get your stories straight. Don't lie, they'll catch you in it." Lando said.

"I didn't do any of this!" Anya said, looking over her documents.

"Let me see." Ben said, taking the file from her hand. He looked it over and saw that they were attempting to tie her to Starkiller Base operations and crimes.

"That's Connix's doing. Don't worry, I doubt they'll buy into it. We already have plenty of statements and files that prove otherwise." Lando said to Anya.

"Lando... there has to be a way to make the Counsel and the Senate Leaders understand what we did and why it had to be done. When it comes to the Force, I just feel like they'll refuse to understand." Rey said.

"You're right. It's very hard for individuals who haven't been personally touched by the power that the Force holds to understand. We need to brainstorm something." Lando said.

"They most likely wont trust anything we try and say." Finn said.

"We need someone else. A neutral party who has just as much knowledge about The Force who could come and answer questions. Like a witness or something." Anya said.

"A pastor from The Church of The Force." Ben said.

"Yeah... like that one on Jakku... that... we... unfortunately blasted to bits." Finn said, putting his hands in his head.

"There was a Church of The Force on Jakku?" Rey said.

"Emphasis on was." Ben regretfully said.

"There are others! I can do some digging, find a few. We could also present evidence to both the crimes counsel and Senate leaders, things like documents and texts." Lando said.

"Anything I had is back in my rooms." Rey said.

"Anything I had is back on Sorgan." Anya said.

"I'll go through your rooms Rey, and I'll have Moira send word to Sorgan, see if we can get anything." Lando said.

"Who are they going to start with first?" Ben asked. Lando looked though his files to see what the hearing plan was.

"Look's like it'll be Poe... then Finn and Rey... then you two." Lando responded to Ben.

"Oh joy!" Poe sarcastically said.

"What about Hux?" Anya asked.

"He still isn't medically well enough to stand any sort of formal trial, but lawyers have been working with him. He's been cooperative. The Crime's counsel is leaning more toward placing him in a detention like setting and having him agree to some sort of consulting services. Like have him help other survivors and comb though all the First Order sludge that's been left behind."

"I think that's fair." Poe said.

"Well... I've got to get going. You all review all this and be ready... hearings start in two days. Oh... and I'll see to it that you all get normal clothes and what not. You can use the Datapads to communicate with me, just know that all activity on them is being monitored." Lando said before leaving.

He left the five of them to look over all the paperwork and documents that sat in mountains before them. Ben's file was the thickest, his face grimaced as he thumbed though the pages. Anya reached out and put her arm around his shoulder to steady him. Going though all this wasn't going to be easy.

***

The fact that General Calrissian had been so forgiving and quick to defend Rey, Finn, Poe, Anya, and Ben was annoying the crap out of Connix. In recent days she had grown more and more suspicious of the General. Surely he knew more than he was letting on. She had been continuously barred by other Counsel members from releasing the information to the press. If she were to leak it now, they would know for a certain it was her.

Connix spent all her free time pouring over Anya Harrow's files, documents, and known statements from her former Oasis colleagues. Connix had it out most for Anya for reasons she didn't even understand. Something about Anya annoyed her. Perhaps it was the similarities the two shared. Both were close in age, and both held relatively high ranking positions within their respective organizations.

Connix was certain there were details about Anya that had either been overlooked or left out of the investigation. She didn't put it past Poe to leave out information. She began to regret sending Rey, Finn, and Poe to seek her out to begin with.

Connix sat back in her seat at her desk and sighed. She wasn't going to let this go. She wasn't going to be as freely forgiving as Lando was. She refreshed files on her screen and decided to check the Sorgan citizens database to see if there was any information on Anya. Connix found only the basics: a copy of the deed to Anya's villa, agricultural records of what was grown at the villa,residency records... and then... a marriage certificate.

Connix pulled up the marriage certificate and verified the date to be only the day before Ben and Anya were arrested. The certificate was signed only by two legal witnesses to the marriage, both names Connix didn't recognize. They were: Moira Vas and Judd Haas, with their relation to the marriage party being: housekeeper and security guard.

Annoyed, Connix tossed the datapad onto her desk when something dawned on her. Leaning forward, she looked at the date of the marriage license and then back at the residence records for the villa. For part of 34 ABY it was registered that there was only one inhabitant of the villa, then for the remainder of 34 and continuously after that, it was registered that there were two inhabitants of the villa.

"Interesting..." Connix thought to herself.

***

Rose stood outside the locked down condominium door carrying half a dozen bags in her hands and on her shoulders. She gulped hard knowing that she would have to knock. Raising a shaky fist, she knocked on the door twice. Why... why had she been assigned this task?

On the inside of the condo, Finn got up and went to see who it was. Looking though the peep hole he saw that it was Rose. They had already discussed that it was definitely Rose that spilled the snitched to Connix. Finn didn't want to answer.

"It's Rose." He said, saying her name with disgust, and loud enough he knew she could hear thought the door.

"The chick that ratted us out?" Ben asked.

"The one and only." Rey said.

"I'm not answering it." Finn said, walking away from the door. Anya tossed her datapad to the side and got up, she smoothed her shirt and hair and walked towards the door. The rest of them all straightened up to see what Anya was going to do. Ben had a devilish smirk on his face, he knew Anya meant business just by the way she walked towards the door.

After being raised within the First Order, one most definitely acquires a killer resting bitch face, and an ability to scare the life out of an individual with just one look. Anya swung the door open and was met face to face with Rose. Rose knew exactly who she was facing. Alarmed, Rose took a step back.

"Can I help you?" Anya flatly asked.

"Hi... I... uhhh, I have... clothes and stuff." Rose nervously said. Anya didn't say anything else, she just stepped aside and let Rose enter. Standing, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed was Ben. For a second time in less than a minute, Rose jumped back. In the background, Finn, Rey, and Poe were enjoying the show of intimidation that Ben and Anya had decided to put on. Rose was quite literally shaking in her boots.

"Hi... sorry... sorry..." stammered as she started to put down all the bags right there in the entry hallway.

"Alright.... enough guys. Don't make her pee her pants." Rey said, feeling for how scared Rose was. It was then that Anya and Ben broke their intimidating facade and laughed. All Rose could do was nervously laugh and look towards Rey.

"I... I wont stay. I just... I just wanted to say sorry."

"Sorry for butting your nose in business it had no business being in? Is that it?" Poe asked.

"I just... I just wanted to do what was right." Rose said, looking down at her shoes.

"Even after we told you it was fine? You should have trusted us! Sometimes secrets are meant to be secrets for a reason." Rey said.

"You just went right to Connix and blabbed." Finn said.

"I did want to trust you! I really did! But everyone has been so suspicious. Connix has been out for First Order blood since she got that stupid position on the counsel! Then you guys came back with the survivors, and all the officials being acquitted, it's been stressful! And, for the record... I didn't go straight to Connix! I... I got the details out of Hux." She shamefully said.

"After I told you he liked you too.... for shame." Poe said, crossing his arms.

"That bastard..." Ben said.

"Well... I kind of drugged him to get the info out of him." Rose admitted.

"None of that matters. You should have just trusted us!" Rey said, clearly annoyed and angry.

"I'm sorry!!!! I'm just going to go." Rose said, turning around only to face both Ben and Anya. She stopped and looked at Anya, she gulped one more time before dashing out the door.

***

The day of the start of the hearings arrived and everyone was a nervous wreck. Poe would be the first one to be questioned by a whole panel of both the war crimes counsel and the 6 new senate Leaders. No one had slept well the night before, and everyone involuntarily woke up early to just wait around until they were escorted to the capital building.

Anya sat on the edge of the tub in her's and Ben's fresher. She was a nervous wreck. She watched as Ben brushed his teeth and looked over his hair in the mirror. The clothes they both had ordered for themselves were reminiscent of their First Order days, it wasn't until that moment that Anya realized it. They both couldn't help that their ideas of professional attire only included the color black.

Ben had on a form fitting pair of black pants, boots, and a black long sleeved turtle neck. Anya had on a slightly shorter black pencil dress which she paired with black nylons, boots, and a jacket. She nervously sat there picking the skin around her fingers, Ben noted this. He turned around and placed a steady hand on her shoulder.

"It's going to be ok." He said.

"I know... I know..." She responded. There was a knock on their bedroom door, Anya got up to answer it and found that it was Rey.

"They're here for us." She softly said.

"We're coming." Anya replied. The five of them did their solemn walk out to the hallway of the condo where several armed guards were waiting for them. It was very depressing to see that even now, after all of their good behavior and compliance, they were still having their hands bound and restrained. In a single file line they were walked out of the condo and building and into yet another windowless transport.

A private and secure room was prepared in the Theed Palace. They were told to sit behind a long table which faced another, much longer table that was set for twelve. Poe would be sitting in a seat right between the two tables, out in the open like a sitting duck, his friends to his back and what felt like enemies to his front. Once Rey, Finn, Ben, Anya and Poe were sat in their assigned seats, the twelve members of Galactic government and military filed in.

Rey saw familiar faces among the crowd, Lando... Connix... and several Senators she had been briefly introduced to. Lando gave them all a reassuring smile.

"Let's begin." The Lead Senator from Naboo said.

The entirety of Poe Dameron's life was combed through. From his childhood to his early years in the Resistance. Everything. Even his blunders as a spice runner were combed through. No part of his life was left out. From behind, the others could see when Poe would get embarrassed or uncomfortable. He would slouch in his seat or his ears would become red. Yet he answered all of their questions as honestly and as truthfully as he could.

The part that hurt Poe the most was when they took a deep dive into his blunders surrounding choices he made after the Destruction of Starkiller base and the battle of Crait. He was reminded of how he was briefly demoted by General Organa and the numerous lives that were lost due to his rashness.

He felt ashamed. He felt ashamed because he had lost friends and colleagues then. Mostly he felt ashamed because it was colleagues now that were questioning him and his choices. He felt ashamed and betrayed.

The first part of the questioning took most of the morning. It was tedious and time consuming. It was decided that they would break for lunch and then resume the rest of Poe's hearing afterwards.

Locked in a stark white room, they ate in silence. Rey and Finn tried to offer some reassuring words and remind him of all the good he had done for the Resistance too. Ben too even tried to remind Poe of some good things when they were children. Poe just hung his head in defeat.

When he afternoon session resumed, it was now time to discuss the events surrounding Sorgan and Exegol. Poe was grilled about the days that were spent on Exegol looking for Anya.

"After you found Captain Harrow... did Captain Harrow in anyway try to enlist your help in going to Exegol?" Connix questioned.

"No. Not at all." Poe honestly said.

"Can you truthfully explain your side of events leading up to the mission to Exegol?" One senator asked.

"Yes. My colleagues and I were assigned to seek out Captain Harrow and interview her for information regarding the First Order. Captain Harrow was very compliant, and forthcoming when it came to her interview. She offered a wealth of information regarding First Order life which was not previously known to us. We left Sorgan two days after meeting Captain Harrow. At the time I did not have a high opinion of Captain Harrow, while drunk at a local bar here on Naboo I accidentally leaked details about her to a journalist. When the story leaked, I felt awful and went to Sorgan to apologize. It was there that I found Rey, Finn, and Anya getting ready to leave on a mission. They did not tell me what that mission was until we were practically on our way to Exegol." Poe stated.

"So you went along with them, fully unaware that the mission in question was a mission to rescue First Order survivors, the General of the First Order, and it's former Supreme Leader?" Connix asked.

"Yes and No."

"Well which is it?"

"I was told that it was jedi business... that it had to do with The Force and bringing balance to the force. The mission was only meant to bring Ben Solo back. We didn't know about the survivors until we arrived." Poe said. Finn and Rey closed their eyes and sighed. They had previously said that they had had visions of survivors, not that their sole purpose was to bring Ben back.

"Ahhh.. but we have written statements from Finn and Rey that they had had dreams or visions about survivors. So you're telling me now that Finn and Rey's purpose originally was solely to find Ben Solo... formerly known as Kylo Ren? Is that what you're saying?" Connix smugly countered. Poe knew he slipped up. It wasn't his fault. They were making him dance over his words. It was becoming very easy to slip up. He attempted to turn around to look at Finn and Rey.

"Eyes up here Mr. Dameron!" A senator shouted. Poe just audibly sighed.

"They were having dreams and visions... but it was about Ben. We found the survivors once we arrived." Poe said.

Anya examined the faces of every single Senator and Counsel leader's face. Her eyes settled on Connix who was actively rolling her tongue in her cheek in an effort to stifle a smile. That smug bitch. She watched as senators leaned over each other to discuss things privately and out of ear shot. Finally the senators rose and declared that that was all they needed for Poe's hearing. A decision would be decided after the rest of the hearings were completed.

With that, everyone filed out of the room, save Lando and Connix. Connix appeared as if she wanted to come over and say something. Instead she visibly just looked both Anya and Ben up and down with an air of suspicion and resentment. Her eyes eventually settled on Anya. Anya looked right back at her, and refused to break her gaze. Ultimately it was Connix who submitted and broke the staring match and left the room.

"You did great." Lando said, coming over to put a hand on Poe's shoulder.

"I feel like shit." Poe loudly said.

"That was the hardest part, and it's over. You did very well." Lando replied.

"Yeah... you did so good." Anya added.

"We are most likely going to break for the weekend and resume these hearings on Monday. Finn and Rey will be next. So try and enjoy the weekend. Is there anything I can get you all at the Condo?"

"Alcohol and a hooker." Poe said.

"A hooker?" Rey laughed.

"Yeah... cuz being the fifth wheel in this little family is getting tiresome. You and Finn need to pull your bed away from the wall, and you two...." Poe said turning to Anya and Ben. "I just know you two are freaks, but you're private freaks... which makes it worse... and it bothers the snot out of me. So I need whisky and a hooker... please."

They all just laughed.

"I can't get you the hooker... but I can get the Whisky. I'll drop it by tonight." Lando said.

*****

**Howdy y'all.**

**So this chapter was a more serious one... I try and throw in some comic relief when I can. As we now go into these more serious parts, they might take me longer to write as I try and add emotional and realistic weight to them. So please be patient with me. Also, if I suck at adding emotional and realistic weight... sorry!! I'm trying!**

**Also I noticed more people are BINGING my story all at once, and I just want to say that every time I get a notification for a comment or a vote, I do a little happy dance.**

**Just just know, that with each comment and Vote, you're making a little 26 year old housewife on the East Coast of the US do a happy dance in her kitchen.**

XOXO


	25. Whiskey and Mirrors

Just as Lando promised, whiskey was brought to the condo. Not just whiskey, though, he dropped off Whiskey, vodka, several mixers, and three bottles of wine, and a plethora of take out food.

"If you all get drinking problems... it's not my fault." He said, leaving the bag of various glass bottles on the counter. Poe immediately dove into the bag containing the bottles of Whiskey, flicked the top off of one bottle which sent the metal top flying across the room, and poured himself a generous glass.

"Stars... Poe... will you be able to walk?" Rey said, seeing how much be poured himself.

"The plan is not to." He said as he took a large glug of his drink. Lando left them all to their own devices, they quickly found spots for themselves in the living area around the Holo projector, and got to work eating the food and drinking their drinks of choice.

"We should watch a movie tonight."Finn announced.

"Yesss! That one spy movie is available. Let's do that one." Poe said, snapping his fingers in the air. He was clearly already starting to feel his drink.

"Sounds good to me." Ben said.

"No... Pride and Prejudice is available, let's watch that! It's a classic!" Anya said.

"Hell no! Not some girly movie." Poe said.

"I've never seen that one, but I have seen the spy movie. Finn, you and I watched it last month!" Rey said.

"It was good! I want to watch it again!" Finn said.

"Wait... you've never seen Pride and Prejudice!?" Anya gasped.

"No...." Rey bashfully said.

"Oh, we have to watch it." Anya said.

"How about this," Poe began, sitting up from his lounging position on the couch and almost spilling his takeaway container of rice, "You girls go watch your girly crap in another room, and us guys watch our movie. Deal?"

"I'm fine with it." Finn said. Rey and Anya both rolled their eyes and got up from their spots, Rey kissed Finn and Anya kissed Ben before they turned to leave and head to a different room.

"Where's my kiss!?" Poe comedically said, Rey just turned around and flipped him off before leading Anya down to her room.

The guys settled in around the holoprojector and started the movie. For a while they payed attention while sipping on their drinks, but soon it turned into a commentary about the logistics and practicality of what was actually happening in the movie. The movie was meant to be a dramatization of a fictional war involving spies set within the galaxy, but it was clear the creators garnished certain plot points from real life. Poe argued that the way they flew the X-Wings was all wrong, Finn argued that the way certain explosives were used in certain situations was all wrong, and Ben argued that there were multiple flaws in the lead character's plan that should have easily been identified by the villain.

By the end of the movie, all three men were tipsy, actually, Finn and Ben were tipsy, and Poe was drunk. As the credits rolled they continued their arguments and observations about the movie.

"You....you wanna know wha... what's a good movie?" Poe slurred.

"What?" Finn asked.

"That one... that one where the guy... he's the guy... ya know... like is really good looking, all the women love him."

"Oh yeah... the one with the guy. That narrows it down." Ben sarcastically said in to his glass.

"No... no... no... the guy... the guy who gets all the ladies... but he like is a professional speeder racer... and robs banks." Poe stammered.

"Ace of Races?" Both Ben and Finn said at the same exact time.

"That's it! It's still early... lets watch one of those." Poe snapped his fingers into the air. Finn shrugged and switched the holo projector to play Poe's requested movie.

Down the hall, in Rey and Finn's room, Rey and Anya were propped up by a dozen pillows, each with wine glasses in their hands and their eyes glued to the holo. Anya had seen the movie dozens of times, she could practically quote all the lines, yet tears welled up in her eyes at all the romantic parts. At the end of it, Rey was sobbing.

"It's just so beautiful!" Rey sobbed into a pillow. Both women were wine tipsy, so it didn't take much to make them cry.

"I know!" Anya said, shedding a few tears herself.

"Like... I know this story takes place like 200 years ago... but why cant we dance and go to balls like that!" Rey said.

"We should make it a thing." Anya laughed.

"Gosh... I never get to watch these kinds of movies with Finn. He always falls asleep."

"Let's watch another one. We need more wine though." Anya said, noting that their bottle of wine was now empty.

"And snacks!" Rey said, hopping up to follow Anya out of the room. When they entered the living space they walked into a war zone. Poe was standing on the couch saying something about lodgistics and thrust power, Finn was laying belly down on the ground with an open box of cookies by his head, and Ben had a datapad in his hand and was trying to make Poe look at an article about thrusters. All of this was happening while some sort of racing movie was playing in the background.

"What the hell?" Anya said. All at once there was silence and all three guys looked at them.

"Reeeeey!!!!!" Finn said from the floor.

"Hi honey." Rey said, stepping over him to head to the kitchen.

"Honey!?" Poe and Ben scoffed.

"What?" Rey said with a chuckle.

"Save the pet names for the bedroom." Poe said.

"Ben... what does Anya call you?" Finn asked. Both Anya and Ben just looked at each other, Anya shook her head and walked towards the kitchen.

"No... no... no... none of that! Did you move the bed from the wall like I said!?" Poe shouted.

"Why are you standing on the couch?" Anya asked.

"It makes me feel tall." Poe said, looking into his empty glass.

Anya and Rey just ignored the guys while they gathered wine and snacks from the kitchen, it was clear that they all had had much to drink, Poe especially. The guys seemed to calm down and start to watch their movie again, Rey and Anya gathered what they wanted and went back to watch their next girly movie.

After about fifteen minutes, the guys sat awkwardly as an overly dramatized sex scene from the movie played out. The main character and the love interest for the movie were shown, going to town on each other in the main character's tiny speeder.

"Pffft.... that doesn't even happen. Only in the movies." Finn said, to which both Ben and Poe stared at him.

"I can most certainly assure you... it does happen." Poe said as he polished off what remained of the whiskey in one bottle.

"Yeah... ok." Finn sarcastically said.

"Wait... you're serious." Poe said to Finn.

"Yeah... like.. how would you even... like... I'd hit my head so many times." Finn blubbered out.

"That speeder is spacious compared to a TIE Silencer.... You hit more than just your head in a Silencer." Ben said as he handed his glass to Poe who was already working on opening another bottle of Whiskey.

"Oh... do tell." Poe said, handing Ben's replenished glass back to him.

"Anya will literally kill me. So no." Ben chuckled.

"Ok... ok.. ok... fine... but answer me this... both of you. Have you ever used the force for nefarious reasons... if you know what I mean? Cuz if I had magical powers, shit... the things I would do." Poe asked.

"Yes."

"No." Both Ben and Finn answered at the same exact time, Finn looked over at Ben with a shocked look on his face.

"That's a misuse of the force!" Finn said.

"Says who?" Ben countered.

"Uhhhh. I don't remember."

"Well I do what I want." Ben said.

"I've never even thought to want to use the force that way. Like... how!?" Finn said, utterly shocked at this new revelation.

"Ok... well here's what you do..." Ben began, turning towards Finn with Poe leaning in obnoxiously to hear.

***

Down the hall Anya and Rey were engrossed in their second girly movie. This time it was something they found on the recommendation page. The movie was about a woman who started working for a rich man, and eventually fell in love with said rich man, but now they were at the part where it was revealed that the rich man secretly already had a wife locked in a tower.

"What the hell!!!!" Rey shouted at the holo.

"He locked her in a tower!? What a freak!" Anya added.

"Oh... oh... she's crazy... that's why." Rey observed.

"Makes sense."Anya replied. The movie only had about twenty minutes left when the bedroom door was practically kicked off the hinges and Ben and Finn were standing on the other side.

"What the hell!" Both Anya and Rey shouted.

"It's bedtime." Finn said.

"Yeah.. it's Ben time... I mean bedtime." Ben dumbly giggled.

"Ohhh Kay..." Anya said getting up and grabbing Ben by the wrist and pulling him from the room. Behind them the door slammed shut and an audible *click* of the lock could be heard. Back in the main living space, Anya saw that Poe had completely passed out on the couch.

"Is he ok?" Anya asked.

"He'll be alright." Ben responded.

"Are you ok?" Anya asked, looking up at him, noting how he slightly swayed as he walked.

"Yeah... but you're about to not be." He said, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder.

***

The last time he had had this much to drink, he went by a different name, and it was after a horrible week in which the Knights of Ren accidentally killed an important First Order diplomat, Snoke was being extra hard on him, and Hux had messed up something or another. After that time, Anya was left with bruises on her back that matched the outline of the framework of one of the book cases in her office's library, and she had to fake being sick the following morning.

Ben had them both stripped naked within a matter of moments after their bedroom door locked. He had her sitting on the dresser as he worked his hands though her hair, and sloppily brought his mouth to wherever he felt like. After the wine that she had had, her head was dizzy and her skin buzzing and warm from wherever he brought his mouth. He was being extra rough, and uncharacteristically sloppy, but she didn't care.

Ben gathered her hair in one fist and yanked her head back, exposing her neck and forcing her to arch her back. She grabbed on to his arms to brace herself, since she was teetering on the edge of the dresser. As he suckled at her neck, he opened his eyes and noticed that he was facing a mirror. It was a long, narrow, rectangular mirror, meant to only just be viewed when one was standing at the dresser, yet he suddenly had different ideas for it.

Releasing her, he grabbed her by the hips and lowered her from the dresser. Anya was out of breath and a bit dazed and confused as to why he was now examining the mirror that hung on the wall. He was pleased to find that it only hung on a few nails, so it was quite easy to remove. He pulled it from the wall and propped it up vertically against the far wall in the bedroom so that it was angled just right to face the bed.

"What are you doing?" Anya asked.

"I want to watch myself fuck you." He grinned. Anya just smirked. They had done this once before, and she had to admit that it had be exhilarating. With the mirror appropriately propped up, he pulled her towards the bed and pushed her down onto it. He then climbed on top of her and began to re-assault her with his mouth. They could turn their heads to the side and see their reflections in the mirror.

He grew sloppier by the minute as the alcohol he had drunk settled into his system. With zero warning, he pushed his length into her. Anya hissed and pulled away slightly, alarmed at the sudden... yet welcome... intrusion.

Anya had always been fairly flexible, so Ben took her one leg and brought it up over one shoulder and leaned forward, practically pressing her thigh to her own chest. He was able to fully appreciate the little subtle jiggles her hips and tits made in the mirror as he thrusted into her. She gripped onto his arms and had her eyes squeezed shut and mouth open as he pounded into her. The sensations she was feeling were indescribable. He was hitting her g-spot just right, and it wasn't going to be much longer until she came.

"Open your eyes. Watch me. Watch yourself." He ordered. She tried, she really did, but her eyes fluttered closed and she tossed her head back and moaned loudly.

"Open. Your. Eyes. I wont ask again." He ordered a second time. Anya opened her eyes, and defiantly, she looked at him before purposely turning her head away from the mirror. She knew what she was doing.

He abruptly pulled himself from her, flipped her over onto her stomach, and brought a hand down across her ass, a loud smack echoing though the room. He grabbed her by the hair at the nape of her neck, and pulled her up until she was upright on her knees. He couldn't help but notice the mischievous and devilish grin she had on her face.

"You... are so bad." He deeply chuckled. He was beginning to not be able to see straight, as much as he wanted to make her pay for her small act of disobedience, all he wanted was to finish. He released her hair, pushing her back on to the bed. He got up and grabbed the mirror and placed it on the floor.

"Hands and knees, over it." He ordered. She quickly complied. The mirror was narrow enough for them to straddle over it without touching the glass. Again with no warning, he re-entered her from behind, this time they could watch their most sensitive parts in the reflection of the mirror. His length was coated in her milky wetness and she could see just how much he stretched her out as he thrusted in and out of her. This time she couldn't take her eyes away.

He began to manipulate the force around her clit. Between how he was fluidly thrusting against her g-spot once again, the erotic nature of how they were watching themselves, and now his force manipulations, she quickly climbed and crested her peak. A wave of unmeasurable pleasure overtook her and she shook, spasmed, and slurred out a number of incoherent words.

His eyes rolled to the back of his head and with a low moan he released into her. He could feel the after waves of her orgasm pulsing against his dick as he slowed his movements to a halt. He pulled himself from her and flopped down onto his back on the floor, just staring at the ceiling. Anya felt and watched as cum dripped out to her, down her legs, and onto the mirror. Once she caught her breath, she sat up and crawled over to where Ben lay on the floor.

"The room is spinning." He said.

"How much did you have?" She chuckled, laying her head on his chest.

"We finished almost two bottles."

"Oh... babe..."

"Babe?"

"Do you not like it?" She asked.

"I love it." He said, pulling her close and kissing the top of her head before resting his head back down onto the floor.

"Come on... let's clean up and get in bed. The floor is no place to pass out."

"Mmmmmm." Was all that he said as she tried to pull his massive frame up.

***

The following morning, Anya woke up with a slight headache and a heaviness behind her eyes. She already knew she had had too much wine. Ben lay solidly asleep in the bed next to her, she figured it would be quite sometime before he recovered. Getting up, she crossed the room, stepping over the mirror where they had left it from the night before. After visiting the fresher and wrapping herself in an oversized fluffy bath robe, she dutifully wiped off the mirror and put it back up on the wall where it belong.

Anya quietly snuck out of the bedroom and went to the kitchen in search of water and coffee. Outside, the aftermath of the guy's previous night was evident. Opened boxes of snacks where haphazardly tossed around the room, two empty bottles of whisky stood on the coffee table, surrounded by three empty glasses.

On the couch, curled up in the fetal position, hugging a pillow, and snoring loudly, lay Poe. He was in the same spot as they had left him the night before. Anya turned to go into the kitchen and was surprised to Rey sitting on one of the stools at the kitchen island. She also was wrapped in a fluffy bathrobe, her hair was in a state that literally had no words to it, and she stared into her coffee mug with wide, glossy eyes.

"Morning." Anya said, as she went for the coffee pot.

"Hmmm." Was all that Rey said. Anya leaned against the counter as she started to sip on her own cup of coffee. Anya just observed Rey. It was visibly clear that she too had had a night similar to her own, Anya just chuckled, which caught Rey's attention.

"Honest question.... have you ever had the force used on you... ya know... in the bedroom?" Rey partially whispered. Anya just about choked on her coffee.

"Oh.... was it your first time with that?"

"YES!!!!! And.... oh my...." Rey said, slamming her coffee cup down on the counter.

"Yeah... total game changer." Anya laughed. The two women just stayed in the kitchen laughing and sipping on their coffee until their wine headaches subsided.

********

**Hey. Hi. How ya doing...**

**So I both love and hate this chapter. Idk how to really feel about it, but I wanted to add one light hearted chapter because I can tell you now that the next few aren't going to be as fun and will be more on the serious side.**

**Any who... I hope you are all still enjoying!**


	26. Theology and Suspicion

The remainder of the weekend went by uneventfully. The guys, naturally, had hangovers and needed a full 24 hours to recover. The time was spent continuing to go over their own case files and prepare for the continuation of their hearing on Monday.

Sunday evening, Lando arrived with news about how the next portion of the hearing was going to go. It was going to start with questioning Finn and Rey in the same manner in which Poe had been questioned. This time, however, Lando was able to pull through on his plan to bring in outside sources when it came to matters of the force. He was able to bring in two Pastors from two separate Churches of The Force to give testimony.

According to the hearing rules, the two Pastor's would not be permitted to know exactly who they were testifying for. This was meant to ensure that there would be no bias. The two mystery pastors would be going in blind, but Lando had already spoken to them, and from their initial statements, he had a good feeling that it was all going to work out in their favor.

Lando then gave Ben and Anya an update on how Nora was doing. He showed them pictures and videos he took over the weekend. Nora looked well taken care of and very happy under the care of Moira and Chewy. Ben could hear in Anya's voice as she spoke and looked at the pictures that she was choking back some tears.

"Does she still ask for us?" Anya asked.

"Every night." Lando solemnly said. This seemed to make Anya very upset. Although it was a comfort to know that Nora was safe and well cared for, Anya hopelessly missed her. She missed holding her, rocking her, singing to her. She even missed her little temper tantrums and the feeling of her little hands tugging at her clothes. It was hard.

"We'll be back with her soon." Ben said, putting an arm around Anya. He too was struggling with sad feelings missing his little girl.

***

They all sat in the hearing room the following morning waiting for the Senate Leaders and War Crimes Counsel to arrive. Rey anxiously tapped her foot against the ground. All at once, they all filed in and took their seats and announced the start of the hearing. There wasn't as much history to go over when it came to Rey and Finn, although, Finn's time as a Stormtrooper was questioned a few times. No one dared to even touch the subject of Reys time orphaned on Jakku.

They then moved on in to questions about the Force. Many of the senators used this time to ask frivolous questions or press Rey and Finn about rumors they had heard about Force Users. It felt like a total waste of time. Rey and Finn spoke honestly and as throughly as they could. They kept cool, even when the questions seemed outright stupid. They finally got to the part that they were all here for: Exegol.

Rey explained how Force users can communicate or sense things though the force, and how sometimes dreams or visions are had that can determine what might or what will happen in the future. She then went on and explained, as best as she could, the Force Dyad that she shared with Ben and how important that was when it came to Balance. She spoke honestly about the dreams she had, telling her that Ben was lost in the In Between, but it seemed like the panel of people that sat before them had started to zone out.

"Why don't we break for a recess. Shall we?" Lando announced, notching his peers disinterest. They all agreed and filed out of the room.

Out in the main hall, Connix broke away from the rest of the Counsel to look over some messages she had received on her datapad. After finding that small detail about how many full time residents resided at Anya's villa, she wanted to do a bit more digging. She sent her assistant, Bale, to Sorgan to do some investigative work.

**Ma'am... I was barred from entering the Villa. The security guards told me I needed a warrant. Typical. They're more educated than I thought. I did however take a trip into the local town to speak with the Village elder.** -Bale

**What did they say?** -Connix

**The Village Elder said that there was a recorded birth at the villa in 34, yet he could not confirm whether or not it was Harrow or one of her house staff**. -Bale

**Do any staff live full time at the villa?** -Connix.

**No. That I can confirm. The closest person to live near the Villa is the housekeeper. Moira Vas, a woman in her seventies, she lives in a tiny cottage a five minute walk from the Villa.** -Bale

**Did you make contact with this Moira?** -Connix

**No, ma'am. The cottage was empty. I did meet her son though, he said his mother supposedly accompanied Harrow on an off planet trip**. -Bale

**Well we both know that isn't the case.** \- Connix

**I'll be here another day or so, possibly revisit the son, ask a few more questions.** -Bale

**Good. Also... there has to be a village midwife or doctor who has better records**. -Connix

**I'm on it**. -Bale

Connix tucked her datapad away and had a smug but pleased look on her face. She still had no solid proof, but there was at least a confirmed birth at the villa. As to who exactly gave birth, that was still to be determined. Connix peeked back into the hearing room where her defendants were all sitting. She watched as Ben Solo put an arm around Anya Harrow and tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. The act of affection made Connix's stomach sour. To her; bad people didn't deserve happiness, and in her eyes Anya and Ben were bad.

***

After a brief recess the Senators and Council resumed the hearing. They decided it was then to bring in the two Pastors. The pastors would appear via Hologram so that they couldn't see whom they were testifying for. They were told only that they were investigating the dealings of 3 force sensitive individuals and how Force sensitive people impacted the Galaxy.

Both pastors spoke with conviction about the force and educated the senators and council further. In fact, many of the things the two pastors said, Finn and Rey had already said. They were then questioned about Force Dyads and the beliefs of Dark side vs Light side. Both pastors confirmed that the existence of a Dyad had not been confirmed in many, many generations. Yet during the times of there being a Dyad, it was noted that there was unprecedented balance and peace within the galaxy.

"One of my parishioners is force sensitive. He is an older gentleman, in his late fifties now, but some time ago he felt a shift within the Force. I want to say it was maybe twenty some odd years ago he felt that unique shift, indicating that there is possibly a Dyad out there. If we are living in the presence of one, then we are sure to finally face balance and peace at long last." One of the pastors said.

"I can confirm this also. I have an older woman in my congregation who also is force sensitive, she sensed the shift long ago as well." The other pastor confirmed. Sitting behind the hologram, so the pastors could not see, Ben and Rey looked at each other and nodded. At once they all felt a relief, it did seem like things were working out with these two testimonies.

"So... gentlemen, if the Dyad were to be discovered and the two beings known. Should we allow them to walk freely among us? After all, we all have endured many decades of war and bloodshed at the hands of force users." One senator asked.

"Well yes. That is the whole point. The force wants to find balance, if we are living in the time of a Dyad now, we should simply allow it to play out." One pastor answered.

"What if one member of the Dyad is a confirmed dark side user. Do we have cause for concern?" Another senator asked.

"The Force is both dark and light. It is the force itself that decides how one wields it. The whole point of a Dyad is that one is light and one is dark. The issues of war and unbalance arose when individuals started to add unnecessary rules and restrictions when it came to the force and how it should be used. That is how there came to be a divide between Jedi and Sith."

"So long as the dark side user is not a Sith... we have no cause for concern."

"Thank you gentlemen." Lando said, dismissing them.

***

In the all white holding room where they were kept for lunch, they all sat around and discussed how well they felt the morning went. Rey and Finn were tired, mentally and emotionally, but they were optimistic. They really felt that with the testimony of the two pastors, the panel of senators and council members were beginning to understand.

"Well that went better than I could have ever hoped!" Lando said, entering the room.

"Thank you so much Lando. It really went great." Rey said.

"Now... we aren't totally out of the woods yet." Lando said.

"Of course." everyone said.

"But things are looking positive so far." Lando smiled.

Out in the hallway Connix received more messages from Bale, as well as reports from some additional sources within the galaxy.

**The son refused to talk to me. But I found the midwife, she was a gullible one, all it took was a few fibs that I was looking for a long lost relative and she spilled everything.** \- Bale

**What news?** -Connix

**It would appear that Harrow gave birth in 34, a little girl, should be getting ready to turn 3 soon. I'll send you over copies of the records I got, but if my math is correct... it looks suspicious**. -Bale

**What else did the midwife have to say?** -Connix

**Same as everyone else here. That Harrow was always a mystery and kept things heavily guarded. The midwife said that she didn't think the child ever left the villa after it was born**. - Bale

**I'll bet my entire salary that wherever Chewbacca and that Moira woman is... so is the child. I want Chewbacca found**! - Connix

Bale sent over copies of the documents that he had. Sure enough, Bale's math was right. Counting back approximately nine months would be about the time Harrow left the First Order. There was no denying it whatsoever.

***

The afternoon session was filled with more questions and discussions regarding the theology surrounding The Force and force users. There once was a time where things like this were common knowledge, yet all of that was wiped out after order 66 and the rise of the Empire. There were even large groups of people who believed Jedi and Force Users to just be myths.

By the end of the day, everyone was exhausted and mentally drained. Once back in the condo, no one wanted to talk to each other, they just wanted to eat and go to bed. They would have another full day of questioning in the morning.

Ben and Anya laid comfortably on their bed, Anya's head resting on his chest while he played with her hair. They didn't speak, they just laid in comfortable silence together. Only after a while, did Ben notice the soft sniffles that were coming from Anya.

"Are you crying?" He softly asked.

"Yeah... sorry." She said, wiping her tears away on the back of her hand.

"What's wrong? Tell me." He soothingly asked.

"I just miss Nora... That's all."

"I miss her too."

"Do you think she'll remember this? Do you think she's worried about us?"

"I don't know. I hope not. I like to think Chewy is keeping her well entertained. She probably thinks she's just being spoiled." Ben replied.

"I don't want her to think we don't love her, or that we abandoned her."

"No... no... no... She won't think that. I'm sure Moira tells her all the time that we love her, Lando too." Ben soothed. Anya thought about it for a while, she pictured in her mind Nora having endless playtime with Moira and Chewy, she envisioned it so well that she could almost hear Nora's little laugh.

"This helps." Anya said.

"What?" Ben responded.

"Talking about her."

"Well let's talk more about her. What was she like as a baby?" He asked.

"She's still a baby." Anya chuckled.

"You know what I mean."

"She was perfect, and she was so tiny. I used to stare at her for hours in disbelief over how perfect she was. I would wrap her in this white muslin blanket because it made her hair pop out. She looked like a little burrito. She didn't cry much, only when she was hungry, and she ate a lot. I felt like a Bantha. It was every two hours with her I had to shove my boob in her mouth." Anya said with a few chuckles.

"Was it hard?" He asked.

"Which part?"

"Having her."

"Ya know... I don't remember much about it. It's quite strange. I do remember it starting slowly... the pains. It got worse at night, but then it was like my body took over and my mind went to a different place where all I thought of was her. Moira stayed with me near the end, so she called the midwives, I don't even remember them showing up. I just remember being in the bathtub in my room, and something took hold of me and the next thing I knew I had a wet slippery baby in my arms. I remember looking down at her and her eyes were open looking at me, and all I could see were your eyes looking back, and I cried."

"I wish I could have been there." Ben said, heavy with guilt.

"I'm sorry."

"We were together for how long, and Nora was the only surprise we got out of it?" Ben chuckled.

"I know, right. There were a few times I felt like we were being stupid and that I should go get that birth control implant."

"Well I'm glad you didn't." He said with a big toothy smile.

"Me too." She said leaning up to kiss him.

***

Connix worked late into the night reviewing file after file about Rey, Finn, Poe, Ben, and Anya. Her office was lit only by the singular lamp illuminating her desk. She stared down at a photo of Anya and... Kylo... one of the ones that had been released to the press. Connix still wanted to release details to the press. She wanted blood. She wanted outrage.

She was pissed off that most of her peers were leaning towards a decision that Force Users were not, in fact, a danger to the Galaxy. More specifically, Rey and Finn were not dangers to the galaxy. She strongly felt that Rey and Finn had too much influence. That given the opportunity, they could potentially take power for themselves if they wanted to. After all, what would stop them? History had proven in the past that it was all possible.

There were still First Order and Imperial loyalists scattered throughout the galaxy. It wouldn't take much to organize them together and they would have a whole mother First Order situation on their hands once more. In Connix's opinion, these rebels needed to be snuffed out.

Connix looked over at her communicator which was beeping, she reached for it and answered it.

"Connix speaking." She answered.

"Ma'am... I just received word from an informant that the Millennium Falcon was found hidden away in a storage warehouse in Cloud City." One of her lower ranking officers informed her.

"Well isn't that just perfect." Connix replied with a sinister smile on her face. She was beginning to recall all the times Lando defended the group, how highly he spoke of them, how he cared for them and brought them things. He was their strongest and most unwavering supporter, even from the very beginning. It all was beginning to make sense. Lando had also been involved all along.

"What will you have us do?"

"Nothing, keep your informant reeled in. I don't want this information to get out. I'm coming now to Bespin. Wait until I arrive." She said before clicking off her communicator.

*******

Hey.... hey... how y'all doing? - TikTok audio sound.


	27. Shaming

**A/N**

**Hold on your your butts. I wrote this at light speed after two white claws and some pasta. Sorry for any errors, but this part of the story has been in my brain for weeks, and I'm so excited to finally be here.**

**May the force be with you.**

The next morning, Rey, Finn, Poe, Anya, and Ben all sat in the hearing room facing the panel of senators and crimes counsel members. They were quick to take note that both Lando and Connix were missing from the head table.

"We will have to begin the hearing without General Calrissian or Connix." The head senator from Naboo said. Everyone looked at each other with nervous looks on their faces. Ultimately, Rey and Finn rose from their seats to sit at the center of the room while their questioning continued.

It continued as much as it had the day before. There were even some repetitive questions. Either some of the senators and council members hadn't been paying attention the day before, or they wanted to see if Rey and Finn were lying about things. Rey and Finn had nothing to lie about, so they answered honestly and truthfully.

The testimonies of the two pastor's from the day previously had been recorded, and several parts of their testimonies were replayed for all to hear once again. It was just an endless cycle of question after question. Rey and Finn were getting tired. Finn was the one who asked the panel if they could break slightly early for the mid morning recess, they needed a break.

In the all white room where they were kept for their breaks and lunches, the group just sat around in silence. Rey and Finn even tried to nap, thats how exhausted the questioning had made them. One of the senate leaders came in to join them after a while, and even ask his own questions.

"This is off the record... but... I like you all, I find this whole ordeal to be rather tedious. I'm eager to get it resolved." The senator admitted. The interviews of the pastors and Rey and Finn's statements had helped him to see a different side to The force and help clear the air when it came to some myths and mysteries.

It seemed like what was supposed to be a brief recess turned into something much longer. The recesses were only supposed to be thirty minutes or so, but not it was going on an hour.

"Something's up." Ben said, looking at the clock on the wall.

"Yeah, where was Lando this morning, and where was Connix?" Poe asked.

"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling." Ben said. It was then that a senator and a member of the war crimes council came in to inform them that there would be an extended recess while the panel looked over information was needed for the investigation. They were assured that the afternoon session would progress just as scheduled.

Anya had butterflies in her stomach, a nervousness and an unease that wasn't going away. She wasn't liking this plan deviation. She wasn't liking that Lando was missing, and she wasn't liking that Connix was missing. Her nervousness and unease started to grow into slight anger. She was angry about the whole situation. Why? Why couldn't they jus live peacefully and quietly? They didn't mean any harm, they just wanted to live on their own terms for once.

There was always someone else out there who wanted to pull the strings. Empire, Rebels, First Order, Resistance.... they were all one in the same. Groups that wore different colors, that supposedly fought for different causes, but at the end of the day it was all the same. Both sides had wanted power, both sides wanted control, they just had different colors and names for it all; but it was all the same.

"It's all the same damn thing!" Anya said, breaking the silence.

"What is?" Poe asked.

"This, the First Order, the Republic, the Empire... they're all one in the same once it boils down to it. One side thinks their way is the right way whereas the other side think's that their way is better. At the end of the day its all the same damn thing. Everyone wants other people to conform to what they think is right. Not what is actually right. I don't know, don't mind me, I'm just rambling." She said, throwing her arms up in the air.

"No... you're right," Ben began, "Last week it was the First Order who was in charge, and when it was the First Order, those who didn't conform to First Order ideals were snuffed out. Now it's the Resistance and they are working to snuff out anyone who doesn't fit into what they consider ideal."

"How about you do you and we all just try to be decent human beings, treat each other with respect, and not kill each other at the end of the day? Has anyone tried that?" Anya said.

"They're over here questioning us... one senator even said: 'why should a small number of people who just so happen to have special abilities get to go and do what they want in the galaxy?' Well how about this... why should a small panel of people who have high government positions get to do what they want?" Rey said.

"They say they represent the people, but they don't... half the people on the crime council have never led a civilian life and all of the senators are filthy rich and have never known what it's like to struggle." Poe added.

"Everything is broken. No matter what you do, or how hard you try... it will always be broken." Anya said.

They would have gone on with their debate about the current state of the Galaxy's politics, but a guard came in to inform them that lunch would be served and then the hearings resumed. Food seemed to calm everyone down for a while. After they had cleared their plates, a senator came in to inform them that there had been some changes to the plan.

"It has been decided that the panel is finished questioning Rey and Finn. It is now in the Panel's interest to question Miss Harrow." The senator said.

"Fantastic." Anya replied.

***

There was a noticeable change in mood upon entering the hearing room. The entire panel of senators and council members were already in their seats, and most notable... Connix was now present. As they filed into the room, she had this pompous look on her face, smiling at them all, almost as if she knew something they didn't.

Anya walked around the table she had been sitting at for the past 3 days now and went to sit at the center chair. Her back was now to her friends and she faced the panel more closely. Closer now, Anya could see that most of the senators and council members were engrossed in file documents on their datapad. She desperately wished to know what they were all looking at.

"Let's begin shall we?" Connix said, stepping forward towards Anya as if she were a vulture circling prey.

"For the record, please state your full name and age." The lead senator said.

"Anya Harrow, age twenty nine."

"Place of birth?"

" The Imperial Class Star Destroyer Thunderbird." Anya answered.

"Parent's names and ranks?"

"My father's name was Hennix Harrow, he served as a Colonel. My mother's name was Nora Pryde-Harrow, she served as a Lieutenant."

"Causes of death?"

"My father died on Starkiller Base."

"And your mother?"

".... Suicide." Anya choked out. To that response a few on the panel looked uncomfortable.

"Thank you miss Harrow...."

"It's Solo." Anya corrected the lead senator, the senator looked confused. "I am married now." Anya further corrected.

"My apologies Mrs. Solo... For the remainder of today's questioning.... head investigator Connix will be taking the lead." The senator said, motioning towards Connix who was still standing, smugly, in front of Anya. Connix dared to smile, turned and smiled at the Senators and her peers, and then turned back to Anya.

"Suicide... Your mother took her own life?" Connix began.

"That is what suicide is." Anya replied back.

"Did she have any reasons? With your family's privileges, rank, and a promising career within the First Order, I find it hard to understand why someone would take their own life. Could you elaborate?"

"We believe she was not mentally well after the birth of my brother."

"Ahh... yes... I have heard that that does happen from time to time. What a shame. You say you have a brother? Is he living?"

"No."

"Care to explain?"

"He died with my mother."

"So your mother killed your brother. She murdered him. Is that correct? That doesn't seem very motherly in my opinion." Connix said with no sympathy or empathy in her voice. She spoke almost condescendingly towards Anya, as if everything was a big joke to her.

"Yes." Anya said in a small voice.

"Would you say you had a good relationship with your mother?"

"Yes... why... why are you dwelling on this? I don't see how this has anything to do with the investigation." Anya pushed back.

"Oh... trust me... it has everything to do with the investigation." Connix went on to further question Anya about her childhood, combing through every detail, she asked questions pertaining to her home life, what her parents were like, whether or not Anya felt that her parents were model citizens.

Of course Anya answered in kind. True, growing up on a Star Destroyer and being thrust into First Order life at a very young age wasn't the most ideal childhood, but Anya had no complaints.

"So... all in all... you would say you had a happy childhood?" Connix asked.

"Everyone has things they wish they could change. I wish I didn't grow up in space, but besides that I was happy. Yes." Anya answered.

"Your parents parenting skills and methods. Do you agree with them?"

"What do you mean?"

"How your parents raised you, the morals they instilled upon you, how they schooled you, how they disciplined you. Do you agree with those methods."

"Ye... yes. I feel like I grew up to be a responsible adult, so they did their job."

"Interesting... moving on. Where were you sent to school? What was your school life like?"

"I schooled on board the Thunderbird and then was sent to a navy boarding school. School life was comprehensive and well rounded. I enjoyed it."

"At what age were you sent to boarding school?"

"Ten."

"I would assume military boarding school would be.... intense?"

"For secondary school it was, that was from the ages of 14-18."

"What was that like? Explain some of the things you learned."

"Um... strategy, combat, leadership, economics, politics, law, and policy." Anya replied.

"Were you popular in school?"

"I.... I suppose so. I had a few friends."

"Were you popular with the boys?" Connix asked, crossing her arms.

"I... umm.... I guess. Girl's classes were separated from the boys, we only saw them at lunch."

"I see... but did you have a boyfriend?"

"How does this relate to the investigation?" Anya questioned, she wasn't ashamed or embarrassed by what did did or who she dated in the past, but at the same time she wasn't prepared to talk about it.

"Connix... are these questions relevant?" The lead senator asked.

"Yes, Senator, I promise. All will be made clear." Connix said turning to the senator before turning back towards Anya and motioning for Anya to answer.

"Yes... I had three boyfriends in secondary school, two of them were just frivolous school yard crushes. Only one was fairly serious." Anya honestly said.

"The fairly serious one.... his name was.... Dorian Fledge... is that correct?" Connix said looking into her case files.

"Yes..." Anya blinked, wondering how on earth Connix knew that information.

"And Dorian was the son of General Fledge... is that correct?"

"Yes..."

"Now is it true... that at your particular boarding school there was a joke amongst the girls... a bet... or a contest really.... to see who could date the Son of the highest ranking member of The First Order?"

"I do not recall that."

"Well... it was well known that female students would try to weasel their way to ahigh rank after graduation by gaining favor with the sons of already High Ranking members."

"You say it is well known, but this is the first I hear of it." Anya replied.

"In your graduating class... Dorian Fledge... well... his father was the highest ranking member. Upon your graduation you were appointed a favorable apprenticeship within The First Order, and then you were appointed as Captain and given command of The Oasis. All while you maintained a relationship with Dorian Fledge. You seemed to fly past your peers. So... would it be fair to say you garnered favor by being in a relationship with Dorian Fledge?"

"No."

"No? And why not?"

"I graduated top of my class, which I worked very hard for. My grades were high enough to take naval testing early, which then determined my starting rank, from my starting rank I progressed because I worked hard. I do admit, being the child of a colonel had it's perks and I was shown preferential treatment because of that, but everything else I earned because I worked hard for it. Not because of some boy." Anya stated. Connix seemed to roll her tongue in her mouth in annoyance.

"How did your relationship with Dorian Fledge end?" Connix asked, Anya blinked for a moment. He had cheated on her and ran off with some nurse from the medbay on his ship.

"Our careers took us in two separate directions. It was a mutual decision." Anya said.

"Did you love him?"

"No." Anya could honestly say.

"Let's move to your time at The Oasis. You graduated top of your class at eighteen, and advanced in rank every year after that until you were reached the rank of Captain and granted command of The Oasis. Once at The Oasis.... you served for almost four years? Is that correct?"

"Yes."

"If it pleases the panel. I think we are due for a recess." One of the other senators interjected. It had been quite some time since lunch, for reasons unknown to Anya, Connix had spent a significant amount of time questioning her about her childhood. They were due for a break.

"We can resume after." Connix said.

***

Anya needed a break, and by break she needed to lock herself in a fresher and focus on her breathing all while staring into the mirror. What was Connix's angle with these questions? What was she trying to get at? Why was she so focused on Anya's past?

Anya just tried to think of every possible explanation as to why there was such a deep dive into every little detail about her life. Anya was also concerned since Lando still hadn't made an appearance, and Connix was missing for the morning. Could the two absences be related? She didn't know.

There was a small knock on the door to the fresher, Anya went to answer it. On the other side was a very concerned looking Ben.

"Hey." He said stepping into the small space with her.

"I'm fine." She snapped at him.

"Are you?"

"No... but I don't want them to know that!" She said, trying to pace back and forth within the space.

"You're doing amazing out there."

"I just want to know what her damn angle is. Like... why all the questions about my mom and my parents and my childhood and school and damn Dorian. Like what do those things have to do with anything!?" Anya said, running her hands though her hair and massing her scalp in an attempt to alleviate some stress.

"I bet they're trying to do a character analysis of you. They know Poe and Rey and Finn... they don't know you."

"No... Connix is up to something. She's has an angle to this." Anya said. There was a soft knock on the door, it was Rey.

"We are being called back into the hearing room." She said.

Back in the hearing room the senators and the council members had gathered again. Anya took her seat in the middle and Connix once more began her stalking display of walking around Anya while asking questions.

"So... where were we. Ah... yes. The Oasis. From the age of eighteen you advanced in rank every single year until you got to The Oasis, it was then that you remained a Captain for how long?" Connix asked.

"Just shy of four years." Anya answered.

"Was it frustrating, going from an advancement every single year to suddenly no advancement at all?"

"No... I was content with my position on The Oasis." Anya said.

"How long were you stationed on The Oasis before you became aquatinted with Kylo Ren?"

"Three years."

"Three years. So you were stationed there for three whole years. Did you take any recreational leave or ever consult with any of your superiors?"

"No. I never got the opportunity to take recreational leave and my superiors were famously absent during my tenure." Anya replied.

"Was it lonely?" Connix asked.

"Excuse me?"

"It must have been. To our knowledge, The Oasis was nothing more than a remote mechanical maintenance shop of little to no importance. You were stationed there, with practically with no peers your age or of your intelligence level, so it must have been lonely."

"Yes... it was, sometimes. My crew were highly skilled, they never received the credit they rightfully deserved. My mechanics were some of the best in the galaxy."

"So... when Kylo Ren showed up... a man close in age to you, with... debatable... good looks... and of high ranking authority... I bet that was a breath of fresh air for you wasn't it?"

"It was." Anya stated with defiance. She wasn't going to deny it. Meeting him was the best thing that ever happened to her. It was a breath of fresh air.

"How long were you aquatinted with Kylo Ren before your affair began?" Connix asked.

"Several weeks... I didn't keep count."

"At what point did you realize you were physically attracted to him?"

"Why is this a question?" Anya said, crossing her arms.

"Answer the question." Connix spat back.

"The very first time I saw him." Anya boldly said.

"Would you deny that after your affair began hat you started to receive special treatment when it came to your position on The Oasis?"

"I do deny it. Kylo never provided any sort of special favors other than his time with me."

"What was your relationship with General Armitage Hux?" Connix asked.

"There was none. I met him once on board the Oasis, and again on Coruscant a year later."

"It was well known that General Hux favored you. Did you also seek out a liaison with him?"

"NO."

"And yet, it is well recorded in record that you received numerous shipments of supplies and.... flowers from the general. Is that correct?"

"It is... unfortunately."

"It sounds like you didn't appreciate the attentions the General was showing you."

"No, I did not."

"And yet you did not put a stop to it. Did you at any time ever tell General Hux his attentions were unwanted?"

"No."

"Why?" Connix pressed. Anya sat back in her chair and crossed her arms in frustration.

"Because I couldn't. There had been many cases of female officials declining male official's advancements, and in those cases the female official either lost her position or was severely punished out of spite. I did not want to risk losing my position." Anya answered.

"Your position... and your fathers?" Connix said, just looking at Anya to reply. "Yes... it is to our understanding that General Hux moved your father, Colonel Harrow, to work right along side him. A postion of prestige. Is that correct?" Connix continued.

"Yes."

"So you didn't want to risk your father's position?"

"No... I did not."

"So... You managed to seduce two of the First Order's highest ranking members?"

"I did not seduce anyone." Anya said.

"That's not the way I see it. I see it as you were a power hungry space brat who was advancing at lightning speed only to reach a plateau in her career and you jumped on the first piece of Galactic meat that could possibly be your free ride up the First Order ladder." Connix boldly said. Behind Connix there were several objections to what she just said. She had crossed a line. She had been inching closer and closer to that line all afternoon. All her peers saw it. There had been more than one occasion that one of the Senators or council members piped up to question Connix and her questioning of Anya.

"You're wrong!" Anya defended herself, feeling tears sting behind her eyes. Tears of anger and rage. Behind her Ben sat with his fists balled in anger. His knees were rocking back and forth and he was just staring down at floor. Connix's angle was clear to him now. She was essentially "slut shaming" Anya. Anya always feared this, even when they were together on The Oasis, this was her biggest fear, that someone find out about their relationship and claim that she was only part of it to advance herself.

"Whatever you want to tell yourself... but that's how it looks right here in our records."

"My relationship with Kylo... BEN... Was and IS one born from actual love. It was a real relationship then just as it is NOW." Anya said.

"Then why did you leave? If you had waited a month you could have been... I don't know... empress of the galaxy."

"It was dangerous."

"Dangerous... for who?"

"For me. Snoke could have killed me."

"So... you were thinking of only yourself... thus further proving my point." Connix said. To that, Anya had nothing to say. True, yes, she had thought of herself, but it was only because she didn't want to die. Anyone in that situation would have made the same decision.

"After you left you took up residence on Sorgan, is that correct?"

"Yes." Anya said in a small voice.

"You... and one other individual?" Connix asked, placing a copy of the residency records in front of Anya. It was in that moment Anya's heart dropped into her stomach. She didn't know what to say, and Connix knew Anya wasn't going to say a damn thing. Anya looked up at Connix with a look that could kill. It was as if daggers came out of her eyes. Hatred flow though Anya, in that very moment there was no one she hated more than Kydel Ko Connix.

"Senators, friends... If you'd be so kind as to turn to pages 56 and 57 in your dossier... it's clear our defendant here is unwilling to answer further questions." Anya looked up as all the senators and Council members flipped though the documents before them. She watched as their eyes slowly settled on the pages in question.

"In year 34 ABY... then Anya Harrow gave birth to baby girl whom she named Nora. Using fairly simple math we were able to determine that the paternity of this child is none other than Kylo Ren. This child is already... at two and a half years of age... noted to be exceptionally strong with the force and could pose a threat to the galaxy one day."

"She is not a threat!" Anya said, her voice cracking. Behind her Finn and Poe each had a hand on Ben, his face was red with rage. They were all furious now.

"Our questioning here today has thus revealed what we already knew from research. Anya Harrow is not fit to raise a child... let alone a force sensitive child... due to her own upbringing. She herself admitted today in this very room that she felt her parents raised her well, indicating that she would raise a child of her own just the same. She has also shown a pattern of reaching for power by manipulating powerful men, sleeping her way to the top. It is in my opinion that..." Before Connix could finish speaking Anya had jumped across the table and had her hands around Connix's throat.

The whole room broke out into an uproar as senators and council members began to rise from their seats and gasp in disbelief. Anya and Connix struggled on the floor, Anya effectively pinning Connix down while she got two good punches to her face. Blood ran down from Connix's nose and she screamed in terror, her ass totally being beat. She was no match and never was a match for Anya.

Rising from his chair slowly, Ben walked around the table. Finn, Rey, and Poe all just looked at each other and leaned back in their seats enjoying watching Connix get the shit beat out of her. Ben stood behind Anya and allowed her to get one last punch in before he picked her up off of Connix and pulled her away from the situation.

"Connix... I think some of those questions were a bit over the line. I think we all agree." The lead senator announced once everything called down. It had become clear in the room the more Connix questioned Anya that Connix was trying to fulfill her own personal vendetta against her. One could easily tell just by the way Connix walked and spoke to Anya.

"Let us adjourn this session to a later date once everyone is calmed down. Connix you're off the case until further notice!" One of the Crime Council leaders said.

"I have an announcement!" Connix interjected, wiping the blood from her nose on the sleeve of her shirt. Everyone turned towards her.

"The fugitive Chewbacca has been apprehended. He's being held in detainment as we speak.... and as for the child, Nora, she's been placed in a protective care facility." Connix smugly said all while keeping eye contact with Ben and Anya to see what they would do. In one instant moment Ben thought of all the ways he could kill Connix. He could use the force to tie up her intestines, or he could force choke her to death. The ways were numerous. Yet he stood there, composing himself and struggling to hold his petite wife back as she tried to quite literally start another brawl with Connix.

Once the room cleared out, it was only Ben, Rey, Finn, Poe, and Anya remaining. Ben released Anya and she walked a few steps forwards before just screaming into the air and falling to her knees.


	28. Best Interests

In the dead of night, Chewbacca's communicator went off. It was Lando.

"I was just informed, Connix knows about the baby, she's on her way to you. I don't know how much time you have." Lando said. Chewbacca made no reply. He swiftly rose from his bed and rushed out of his room. Without even knocking, since there was no time, he pushed his way into the room Moira shared with Nora.

"Awwwgh! Arggg!" He began, flailing his arms around. Moira didn't need to know Shyriiwook to know what he meant. She moved as quickly as she could, and roused Nora from her bed. Chewy took the toddler from the elderly woman and they began to make their way towards the exit of Lando's Condo.

On the other side of the condo door they could hear boots, footsteps, and voices. It was too late. They were here. With a very sleepy and dazed Nora in his arms, Chewy did a 180 and motioned for Moira to follow him. They moved through the apartment quickly until Chewy found what he was looking for. In the hallway, by Lando's master bedroom, there was a hidden secret door. With Lando's previous long history of gambling, smuggling, and other shady exploits, the man still had old habits he kept. Including secret rooms and passages.

Chewbacca motioned for Moira to follow him inside, she did. Chewbacca sealed the door behind them and handed Nora to Moira. The hallway was narrow, very narrow, Chewy had to walk sideways down it, and it was dark. They could tell Nora was frightened. The toddler could naturally sense something was wrong, and the darkness of the hallway didn't help. She kept a strong grip around Moira's neck and had her face buried in Moira's grey hair.

"Shhh. It's alright." Moira comforted Nora. They heard when the main hatch door to the condo was blasted in as they descended down the secret hallway. They could also hear numerous boots and footsteps radiate through the condo.

"They were here! They must have escaped! Find them!" A female voice echoed. Chewy and Moira began to move faster. The hallway was supposed to lead to Lando's hidden, secret escape hangar where Chewy had long stored the Falcon. Halfway through their descent they heard the district opening of the secret hatch door to the hidden passage hiss open. Chewbacca and Moira broke out into a run as best as they could.

"Take her! You can go faster than I can!" Moira said, pushing Nora into his arms. Moira was out of breath, she could not carry the toddler and run at the same time. Chewy took Nora and gave Moira a sympathetic look.

"GO!" Moira ordered him. He made the difficult decision to leave Moira behind as he worked to move down the hallway faster. The echoes of running footsteps could be heard coming down the hallway.

"YOU THERE!" An unfamiliar voice commanded. Moira had been caught. Chewbacca reached the end of the hallway and frantically pressed the keypad to open the hatch. The hatch hissed open and Chewy's eyes blinked as they adjusted to the light. On the other side he saw to his horror: The Falcon was surrounded by Resistance Officers.

"You have no where to run!" Someone called out from the crowd, all their weapons pointed at Chewbacca. Chewbacca looked down at Nora who was clutching to his chest for dear life, terrified out of her little mind. She wasn't crying. Although she was frighted, she was being a brave girl. She looked up at him with her big eyes, and he knew he couldn't risk harm to her. There was no way out.

Behind him Resistance officers and Connix emerged from the secret hallway, pushing Moira forward, her arm painfully twisted behind her back by one of the officers. The officer holding Moira aggressively pushed Moira forward. The woman fell to her knees and did a half crawl towards Chewbacca. Cautiously and slowly, Chewbacca helped her to her feet and handed Nora to her.

Raising his arms high above his head, Chewbacca surrendered. Several officers were on Chewbacca at once, detaining him, binding his legs and arms in restraints and forcing the massive Wookiee to his knees.

"Hand over the child!" Connix spat an order at Moira.

"No... no. She stays with me." Moira pushed back, clutching Nora tightly to her.

"It is in your best interests and the child's if you hand her over!" Connix ordered again.

"She stays with me!" Moira shouted again. Connix snapped her fingers and several officers moved in on Moira. Moira tried to turn and run in an effort to escape, but it was useless. Hands were on her immediately, grabbing her, and shoving her. She resisted. Curling as much of her body around Nora as she could in an effort to protect the child.

Moira tripped and fell on her side, crashing down on to the ground, all while clinging to Nora. The officers were on her, pushing her onto her stomach and forcibly prying Nora from Moira's arms. The whole sight was horrific. The older woman was being overly manhandled and treated with excessive force.

It was now that Nora started crying. She shrieked and kicked and tried to wiggle her little self out of the arms of the stranger that held her. Although Nora was only two, she knew, she was old enough to know she was in danger and that these strangers were not being nice to her friends.

"Uncle Choochoo!" Nora shrieked out, her arms reaching towards him. The toddler's cries and screams echoed through the space. Enough to tear the heart of anyone who hear her in two.

On the ground Moira continued to struggle and resist. One of the officers forcefully struck Moira in the head with the butt of his blaster, which Nora saw. For a moment Moira fell limp before groaning out, and blood began to drip from her skull. Another officer clasped restraints around Moira's wrists all while keeping a firm knee on her back, keeping her pinned.

Nora knew that blood was bad, she also knew that hitting was bad, and she knew something wasn't right with Auntie Moira. The toddler's face was beat red from crying, she had tears and snot dripping down her face, and she continued to try and wiggle and worm her away out of the arms of her captor. The toddler was pissed.

All at once, Nora turned to her captor and pushed out the strongest force push she had ever done. The man fell backward, hitting his head on the metallic floor and then released the toddler. Nora hobbled her her feet and made her way towards Moira, using the force again, she pushed the man who held his knee to Moira's back off of her. All the officers standing around stared in a state of shock.

A gurgle and a gasp for breath came from Moira, her eyes were wide and dilated and blood continued to drip from her head. Nora patted Moira on her shoulder, trying to see if she was ok. The toddler didn't understand what was happening. She was scared and confused. She then turned to walk towards Chewy, but Connix stepped in between.

Connix knelt down in front of Nora with a fake look of sympathy on her face.

"Hello." She said to Nora. Nora wasn't sure what to do. In her mind the men with the blasters were bad guys, she didn't know what to make of the lady with blond hair and a deceivingly kind face.

"Look!" Connix said, taking out her datapad and showing Nora a picture of Anya and Ben.

"Mama... Dada..." Nora said though her tears and snot.

"Yes! That's right! Would you like to see them?" Connix said, this seemed to calm the toddler a bit. Nora looked up at Connix, then at the picture again, then back at Connix, unsure if she should trust the strange woman.

"Come on." Connix said, reaching a hand out towards Nora. Hesitantly, Nora took Connix's hand and was led away from Moira's limp body.

"Have this all... cleaned up." Connix quietly said to one of her officers and nodding her head toward's Moira.

"Ma'am..." One of the officers over by Moira said. Connix turned and saw that the officer was standing over Moira with his hand gently placed at her neck.

"She's gone..." The officer said.

"Well get it cleaned up. Inform her family." Connix said in annoyance. Still hand in hand with Nora, Connix walked over to a waiting transport shuttle. Nora looked over at Chewy, she didn't understand what was happening. All she did was give him a little wave as she disappeared with Connix.

Chewbacca fell forward on the ground and let out a low, pained cry. He had failed. He had failed and he felt it was his fault that Moira was now gone. His heart hurt over the loss of the kind old woman, but his heart also stabbed him in pain over what would become of Nora.

***

The sound of children could be heard from the street as a shuttle approached the Naboo Orphanage. Nora lay curled up, alone on a nearby chair in the shuttle. No one had offered Nora any comfort or kindness. They had just plopped her in a chair, tossed her some crackers, and snapped commands at her when she wasn't as compliant as they had wanted.

The orphanage was in an old, rundown stone building. Some of the windows were open, but others were boarded shut. Hanging out the windows were children of various ages, curious to see who was now coming to the orphanage.

It wasn't a fine facility, but it was the one Connix chose. It met all the basic criteria for a protective care facility. Basic was a loose term. Basic meant the children were fed three times a day, allowed outdoors once a day, and each had their own bed. That was it. It ran more like a factory than a place where children would be cared for.

"Let's get this over with." Connix said, picking up the sleeping child and haphazardly tossing her over her shoulder. The headmaster of the orphanage met Connix at the street.

"Is this the one we spoke about?" The old grouch of a headmaster said.

"Yes... not technically an orphan, just needs to be put in protective care until the court decides what to do with her." Connix said, pushing Nora into the annoyed headmaster's arms.

"How long will that take? I'm bursting at the seams here."

"Don't worry. We will pay you generously to care for this one, she's of significant importance. Keep a close eye on her. She's a trouble maker." Connix said before turning to leave.

Nora was fully awake now. She was exhausted from crying and she watched as the lady she thought she could trust left her without as much as a goodbye. Now she was being held by an old, crusty, obese man who dropped her to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

"Well... you can walk yourself! I won't be carrying you around like some princess!" The man barked, pointing for Nora to walk inside.

Nora was ushered to a room filled with other children her age, the walls were lined with cribs, each with a child inside. The headmaster picked Nora up and placed her in an empty crib and left the room. Nora looked around at the disgusting place. The other children were either dressed in rags or not dressed at all. Cries and children's banter loudly echoed though the space. In the corner an old woman sat, asleep in a rocking chair, not even aware or caring that several of the children desperately needed their diapers changed.

Nora whimpered to herself before curling up on the creaky and lumpy mattress in the crib. She covered her face with her hands and laid there all alone.

******

**Hi... sorry to ruin your day.**

**_How are you guys doing so f_ ar? I hope you're doing well.**

**XOXO**


	29. Media

The moment Lando got word that Connix knew, he started his emergency plan. Yes, he had an emergency plan. He had enough life experience to know that he needed to be wary of everyone and everything. Whether Connix realized it or not, Lando was already five steps ahead of her.

He had had his ear to the ground for weeks; secretly spying on Connix to know her next move. While Connix was doing a deep dive on Anya; Lando did a deep dive on Connix, and he unearthed some uncomfortable information. Not only was he aware that Connix was on Nora's trail, but he was also aware of her growing distain towards Forcer Users in General.

What the council and the senate didn't know was that Connix was drawing up a plan. A plan that would criminalize all Force users, and she was hoping by convicting Finn, Rey, and Ben under the guise of war crimes, she could prove that Force Users could not be trusted. This was only phase one of her over all plan. In secret and in private, Connix had developed extremist opinions.

Lando was always a sweet talker. He could sweet talk his way out or into any situation he pleased. It was his strong suit. It was Lando who was able to sway practically the entire Galaxy to come help during the Battle of Exegol, and it was his smooth talking skills now that were possibly going to rectify this situation.

After relaying a message of warning to Chewy, he moved on into phase 2 of his plan. His contact who had been keeping an eye on Connix was delayed in informing Lando of what she was doing, so Lando already knew for certain Chewy, Moira, and Nora would be caught. Picking up his communicator a second time, he called in yet another favor.

"Meet me at Grek-Go's Cafe... ASAP, I have a story for you." Lando said to his contact.

***

Grek-Go's cafe was in an upscale area of Theed. It sold the best coffee and tea as well as some of the most opulent and rich pastries on Naboo. Lando made his way to the back of the cafe where a woman with icy white hair and purple eyes sat.

Sissy Tengo happened to be the Galaxy's most trusted news journalist. She had won a plethora of awards for her articles, papers, and reporting on numerous galactic topics. Anything Sissy Tengo wrote about, the public trusted. Sissy Tengo also happened to be the same journalist Poe cozied up to a bar one fateful night.

"General Calrissian... this better be good." She said as Lando took his seat in front of her.

"It is."

"So what is it?"

"The New Senate and Resistance has been keeping First Order Battle of Exegol Survivors in custody for the past four months. General Armitage Hux was among the survivors." Lando began.

"No! And the public hasn't been informed of any of this!?" She said in shock.

"None. It's been kept under wraps, higher ups have been afraid of public backlash; but I think there's something you an I can do about that." Lando said, pushing a file across the table to Sissy.

"One hundred and twenty five survivors... rescued by the two jedi... Rey and Finn... General Dameron.... and... Anya Harrow?" Sissy questioned in disbelief.

"Right. You did that investigative work on Captain Harrow and her affair with Kylo Ren." Lando stated.

"I did... boy was that fun. That was the juiciest story of the century! The people love her and they've never even met her yet."

"I think you'll find the next bit of information especially interesting." Lando said, motioning for Sissy to turn the page. When she did, her eyes grew wide and the color drained from her face.

"He's... he's alive!?" She whispered.

"Yes... it was the whole reason they went to Exegol in the first place. I'll spare you the complicated details because it all has to do with the Force and brining balance to the galaxy. All you need to know is that the kids went there for GOOD reason."

"What happened?"

"They've been arrested. Secret hearings are being held as we speak. Rey... Finn... Poe... Anya... and Ben."

"Ben?"

"Kylo Ren was really the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa." Lando said.

"NO!" Sissy said in disbelief.

"Yes... Much like how the First Order targeted Resistance leaders to kidnap their children for the stormtrooper program... young Ben Solo was targeted too."

"So... essentially he's technically innocent, just another victim of the First Order."

"Exactly, but there are some who hold biases and grudges, they don't see it that way."

"So what do you want me to do about it?" Sissy asked.

"Anya Harrow and Ben Solo are married now. They have a child, a little girl. Up until recently they've been living a very comfortable and peaceful life. It's the perfect happy ending to the original story you wrote months ago. Except right now... it isn't a happy ending, and if Connix get's her way, there will never be a happy ending for millions of families in the Galaxy."

"What is happening?"

"Kaydel Ko Connix has it out for Ben and Anya. I received information this morning that Connix was issuing an underhanded search warrant to capture Chewbacca and the child. I myself was hiding the two along with a dear friend of Anya's, my hands are tied at the moment, I'm now involved, Connix is going to try and arrest me next. I suspect that Connix is going to use the child as some sort of example."

"So let me guess. Connix plans to use a child as a ploy? What exactly is Connix's whole angle, how does it play into the Galaxy?"

"I've seen it growing for a while. She started out as a mere operations controller, Leia saw something in her and elevated her to Lieutenant. After the war she was made head of the War Crimes Council. Essentially for two years now she's had unbridled power over First Order officials and survivors, the power has gone to her head. She has somehow managed to develop extremist opinions. She is now of the opinion that all Force users are dangerous and not to be trusted. If she starts here, if she gets away with punishing our war hero's... I have solid evidence that this is only the beginning, she plans on pushing forward measures to criminalize all Force users."

"Things would essentially become no better than they were under The Empire or old Jedi Order. Children will be torn from their families, forced into a life they didn't choose... or worse." Sissy said, connecting all the dots.

"Exactly! Connix is already doing that to Ben and Anya's child. If you look at the documents I've provided, Connix has falsified information about Anya to make it look like she is an unfit parent, that she had plans to weaponize the child. She plans on presenting this information during the hearing today."

"So let me guess... you want me to leak this information to the press?" Sissy said, looking over the detailed information in the file Lando provided.

"What I need is for you to leak it in such a way so it sways public opinion in favor of Ben, Anya, Rey, Finn, and Poe. If the public is outraged at Connix, the War Crimes council, and senate leaders, the plans to criminalize all force users stops here."

"I already have a headline: 'Happily ever after..... or chaos again?'"

"You have all the information you need in those files, I need something out tonight."

"I'm on it." Sissy said, tucking the folder into her purse.

***

The entryway to the condo in which they all were kept confined to had an entryway table that had an ornate ceramic vase on it. It was a lovely modern piece that served the space well. That ceramic vase was now smashed to pieces, scattered all over the floor, a victim of Anya's rage.

Anya held it together until she got to the condo. Once her foot crossed the threshold she swiped the vase, sending it flying down the hall and onto the marble flooring of the apartment. It shattered instantly.

Anya wouldn't speak. She had nothing today. Her mind only focused on Nora. The normally calm, cool, and poised woman had stooped to childish rage and anger due to her emotional turmoil. There was nothing the others could do to calm her.

Ben tried to hold her, he tried to console her, but he was in just as much turmoil as she was. He managed to finally confine her to their bedroom and together they sat on the edge of their bed facing the large window, the warm glow of the setting sun filling the room. Anya's chest heaved up and down, her eyes were swollen , her mascara dripped down her face, and her hair was a frazzled mess. In her anxiety she had picked the skin around her fingernails raw, and her knuckles were bruised from her beat down of Connix.

Ben got up and began to pace the room. Darkness had awoken in him again, fury and rage.... raw and untamed fury. In reality, there was nothing stopping him from breaking out of this condo. He could do what he wanted. He could easily snap the necks of the guards that guarded them, he had enough anger flowing though him that he could pull down the entire Theed Royal Palace if he wanted to.

As he paced he reminded himself that he needed to stay calm. He reminded himself that it was ok to feel this way, it was only natural, but he just couldn't act on his impulses. Not any more. It wouldn't look good, it would just put them back at square 1, he would be no better than the man he once was. He had more to live for now, he had other people to think about.

Turning towards the wall, in a fit of anger, he punched through the drywall. With a large hole ever present he turned back around and looked at Anya before covering his face with his hands. The punch helped to alleviate some of the turmoil.

"I just want my baby." Anya said in a small voice.

"I know... I know... I'm sorry." He replied.

"Why are you sorry?"

"Because it's all my fault."

"It's not your fault." Anya protested.

"Yes... yes it is."

"No... we are both responsible. She is our child."

"But it's MY FAULT!" He said raising his voice.

Outside their room Rey, Finn, and Poe all gathered around in the kitchen. They were all numb and worried. Rey cried a bit once they returned to the condo. Poe poured them each a glass of whiskey. In silence they sipped all while a heated argument between Ben and Anya could he heard behind closed doors.

A knock at the condo door made them all jump. Finn went to answer it and found that it was Lando. When Lando stepped inside his shoes crunched on the broken ceramic. He looked around and saw the broken vase and could hear the muffled argument happening privately elsewhere.

"Where were you?" Finn asked.

"I was working on getting you all out of this mess." Lando responded.

"Well Connix got Chewy, Nora, and Moira."

"... About that." He said. Finn took a closer look at Lando and saw that his eyes were bloodshot and his cheeks stained from tears. Lando pushed aside Finn and entered the condo. He motioned for Rey and Poe to join him in the living room. In a soft voice he informed the trio of Moira's death. A few tears escaped his eyes as he explained what happened.

"Connix will have to pay for this... the Resistance will have to pay for this." Finn said, shaking his head before hanging it low.

"I got the whole altercation on my security system. It.... it was bad." Lando said, shaking his head. He sighed a long sigh before standing up to head towards Ben and Anya's room. As he stood outside the door he could hear the raised voices on the other side.

"Yeah! Well you fucking LEFT ME! If you didn't leave me... maybe none of this would have happened!" Ben screamed.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS!? Aren't you forgetting a little detail!? The damn EMPEROR! WE WOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD BY NOW!" Anya yelled back.

"Maybe I could have changed things!" Ben yelled back. Ben and Anya never fought... ever. Even when they were together on The Oasis the most they ever bickered about was who got use of the shower first in the mornings, but even then, that just resulted in them showering together. It was very uncharacteristic of them to fight, especially this intensely. They both were in immense pain, both from present trauma and past, and now they were digging at old wounds that they both swore they would never dig at.

Lando pinched the bridge of his nose as he thought about if now was a good time to interrupt them. Hearing them like this was reminiscent of hearing Han and Leia fight. Lifting his hand, Lando knocked on the door.

"WHAT!?" They both snapped at the same time from the other side.

"It's me." Lando said. He heard silence for a moment before the door opened. Inside, Ben stood in the doorway and Anya sat on the edge of the bed. Lando's eyes briefly drifted to the massive hole that was now in the drywall.

"I'm sorry to interrupt." Lando said.

"It's fine." Ben said.

"I have news." Lando began.

"Where's Nora?" Anya asked.

"I don't... I don't know yet." He answered honestly. "I have people working on it as we speak."

"Well where were you today?" Ben snapped.

"I was ensuring that the rest of this situation goes as smoothly as possible. Ben, sit." Lando said, motioning for him to sit next to Anya.

"Something's wrong... what's wrong? Is it Nora? Is she alright? Is she safe?" Ben stammered.

"To my knowledge, yes, she is unharmed."

"And Chewbacca?" Ben asked.

"He is in a detention center. He is also unharmed." Lando responded.

"Moira?" Anya asked. Lando didn't know how to begin. He didn't really have the words to say to Anya. It was easier to tell the others, but Anya... He didn't know. Instead he just closed his eyes and shook his head.

"I"m... I'm so sorry." He said his voice cracking. Anya immediately understood. Tears welled up in her eyes and spilled over, big heavy tears. They poured down her face. Her heart had now been broken twice in one day. Moira was more than just her housekeeper. She was like a mother to her. Moira was the first person who Anya met when she arrived on Sorgan. She tirelessly helped Anya though her pregnancy, stayed with her, held her hand, soothed her. She stayed with Anya during the tiresome nights with a newborn. Moria had been so, so much to Anya. Now she was gone.

Anya hung her head and allowed the tears to just fall. She was broken, the lowest she had ever been in her life, and for this day she had no emotions left to feel. Numbness overtook her.

"H...how?" Ben asked, as he put his arm around Anya and held her tightly to him.

"Connix served a very underhanded search warrant. She brought nearly twenty resistance officers and guards with her. Excessive force was used. I promise you an investigation will be done and those responsible will be held accountable for their actions." Lando said.

"Good." Ben responded. Lando motioned his head towards the door, indicating that he wanted to speak with Ben privately. Ben squeezed Anya one more time, kissed the top of her head, and followed Lando out of the room.

"Connix obviously knows I'm involved now, she won't hesitate to try and have me arrested next." Lando began once they were out in the hallway.

"What are you going to do?"

"I already have a plan in motion, we all just need to hope and pray that it works the way I hope it will."

"What's that?"

"I've arranged for all of this to be leaked to the media. I contacted a very trusted journalist, she's going to write up an expose. She's going to spin it in a way that's going to make the public side with you. If the public is against the Crimes Council and Senate, they'll cave when it comes to this bogus trial."

"I understand. Whatever it takes. We just want to know where Nora is." Ben said.

"I have people on that now. I wont rest until she's found."

"Uncle Lando..." Ben began, his fits in balls.

"Yes?"

"I'm trying my hardest to be... good.... but if this goes on much longer... I wont hesitate to give them something to be terrified of again." Ben cautioned.

"If this goes on much longer... I'll be right beside you giving them hell." Lando said, placing a firm hand on his shoulder.

***

**_"BREAKING NEWS!!!! New developments surrounding the Battle of Exegol, former Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, Resistance Leadership, and more has come to ligh_** t." A voice echoed from the holoprojector in the living room. Rey, Finn, Poe, and Ben all stopped what they were doing to stare at the holo as a news story played out.

**_"Inside sources within the Resistance Crimes Council have leaked information that details a strategic coverup of survivors from Exegol being rescued several months ago. This leak also details the victimization and abduction of Ben Solo, son of Princess and General Leia Organa, and Han Solo, the criminalization of Jedi and Force Users, and the incarcerations of several galactic war heros..."_ **The news reporter began. They watched as an in-depth storyline played out that made Rey, Finn, Poe, Ben, and Anya look good. They also stood in shock as it was revealed that Connix had a secret overall Force User criminalization plan for the Galaxy.

Lando had found secret documents that Connix had thought she had hidden. In her secret documents, she laid out groundwork that would bring mandatory Midi-chlorian testing to all citizens of the Galaxy. Any children found with high counts would be forcibly removed from their families, and any adults found with high counts would be sent to "reform facilities."

It's true that one time Midi-chlorian counts were used by the Jedi to find children to induct into the Jedi temple; but that was generations ago. Connix's plan was much harsher. She even dabbled in ensuring that two individuals who even had the slightest possibility of having force sensitive offspring be prevented from ever having offspring of their own. Essentially forced genetic testing.

The report went on to detail how several Resistance Leaders were targeted by the First Order and had their Children abducted. It went on to explain that Snoke personally took charge of "abducting" a young Ben Solo and using the Force to manipulate him, brainwash him, and abuse him, thus creating: Kylo Ren. The report added that after the death of Snoke and the defeat of the Emperor, Ben Solo was able to be "rescued" from Exegol and that he had been living a peaceful and productive life as a private citizen with his wife, Anya Harrow, and an "unnamed daughter".

The report obviously had variations as to what really happened, but it needed to be for the general population to comprehend. Despite it's oversimplification of matters, the point was made.

Within hours protesters gathered outside the New Galactic courthouse, the Theed Royal Palace, and the gates of several Resistance bases throughout the galaxy. The public was pissed at the possibility of forced genetic testing, forced Midi-chlorian testing, the removal of their children, and the criminalization of their favorite war heros.

"LANDO!!!!" A furious Connix yelled as she marched down the halls of the Resistance base. Her nose was bandaged up and both her eyes were bruised heavily.

"I like the new eye makeup, it suits you." Lando said, turning from the other War Crimes council members who had gathered to discuss the new developments.

"Fuck off! You should be arrested! You've been involved this whole time!" She spat.

"I warned you. I cautioned you several times in private not to pursue this, yet you pushed forward."

"It's for the good of the Galaxy!"

"For the good of the Galaxy? I'm pretty sure that's something the Emperor said when he took power, it's also something Snoke said when he took power as well. The Galaxy needs to heal! You have started to put policies in place that are no better than what we've dealt with under Imperial and First Order rule." Lando said.

"We find your opinions to be very... unsettling." One council member said stepping forward.

"You also are responsible for the death of an innocent woman today! A death which you did not properly report. You also did not go though the appropriate channels to secure your search warrant." Another council member said.

"You have abused your station and power with this!" One other said. Connix was stunned into silence. Her allies were now turning against her.

"You'll regret this... all of you!" Connix said, turning on her heel and leaving them behind. Lando went back to talking to the others, finding Nora was his for most concern at the moment. Many of the Council members were somewhat aware of what Connix had been up to, but what they were not aware of was just how extremist her personal opinions had become.

"The child is being held at the East side Orphanage here in the city, yet the way Connix put it all into place, it is going to be difficult to release the child from the orphanage's care." One member said.

"Why is that?"

"Connix falsified documents to the Galactic Children's Protection agency. The CPA will need to do their own investigation in order to determine if they can release the child, which means they'll want us to push forward with our investigations."

"I see." Lando said.

"We should make public the transcripts of Poe Dameron's hearing, the two Jedi, and Harrow's hearing." One interjected.

"Yes. Do that now, while the public had it's mind on everything." Lando said.

***

Ben brought Anya dinner in their bedroom, but she did not touch it. He had informed her of what Lando had done, but she remained silent. He knelt in front of her as she sat at the edge of their bed. He took both her hands in his and rested his head on her lap. It was killing him to see her like this. He was in pain too, he felt it deeply too, but he understood that Anya must have felt it at a much deeper level.

"Do you hear that?" Ben said

"Hmmm?" Anya hummed.

"That's the sound of people cheering... for us." He said softly. They could hear the protestors from the condo. Their chants echoed through the city.

"I just want Nora." She said, removing one hand from his and running her fingers through his hair. He sighed a sigh of relief. After their fight earlier, he felt that she had iced him out. This was the first display of affection she had shown him all day.

"We will fight for her." He said, slowing rising and taking her face into his hands. Gently he kissed her, a steady, comforting kiss. He kissed both of her closed, swollen eyes, and then lingered at her forehead.

"Would you like a bath?" He asked, breaking away from her.

"That would be nice, thank you." Ben left to draw up a bath in the bathroom. When he returned to Anya he gently started to remove her clothes. He carried her into the bathroom and lowered her into the hot, bubbling water. This moment they were now sharing together was not a sexual one, but it was a very intimate one. Ben stripped and got in the tub with Anya, he pulled her tightly against his chest and felt as she relaxed against him.

Together they just closed their eyes and tried to will the stress and anxiety they were both feeling away.

***

**A/N**

**Hi guys.**

**So... I don't know how you all feel about this chapter. Please let me know. When I set out to write this story I had only planned for it to be 20 or so chapters and literally just end with Ben coming back, but there were always questions I had, and side stories and plot points in the Star Wars Universe that intrigued me.**

**Some major points that I wanted to explore were:**

**Just because someone did bad things in their past, doesn't make them a bad person forever.**

**Just because someone is on a certain "side" doesn't automatically make them a good, or bad person.**

**A person can be on the "bad guy's" team, but still have good and noble intentions.**

**Things aren't just "black or white", they're multifaceted and need to be seen from multiple viewpoints to be understood.**

**The media can be a powerful weapon even in a Galaxy far far away. (This isn't meant to be political about our current times, just a general observation about our own modern society)**

**When people don't understand something, they naturally become afraid of it and/or refuse to learn and understand more.**

**There's many more plot points I think I've touched on, and gee... I didn't mean for it to be that deep LOL**

**Also, as some of you know, I write this anonymously, my username I made based on another original character who's story I gave up long ago (She was pretty cool... I have part of her old story up on A03 my username there is commandernanata) ... but... you all can call me Nia... it's not my real name... and not even close to my real name... it's actually the name of that other OC... lol but I'll use it for myself.**

**Have a great weekend y'all!**

**-Nia**


	30. Switch

"For the record, please state your full name and any previously known aliases." The lead senator said.

"Ben Solo... also previously known as Kylo Ren." Ben sat at that now dreaded center table in the middle of the hearing room. He faced the panel of Senate Leaders and War Crimes council members. Connix had now been fully removed from the council and a separate, independent investigation was underway on her. For this portion of the hearings, Lando recused himself siting personal ties to Ben, this was understandable. A fair hearing still needed to take place.

In the days since the news broke about everything that was going on, the public received all transcripts of the previous hearings, and now the remaining hearings were being broadcast through the galaxy. Large crowds gathered outside the Courthouse, they would chant their protest chants, or stand in silence listening to the hearings. Today would be the first day of Ben's hearing, the public was captivated in silence.

"Place of birth?" The senator asked Ben.

"Chandrilia."

"Parent's names?"

"Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan and Han Solo ofCorellia." Ben answered. All of these basic questions were already public knowledge, yet just for the record they needed to be asked.

"Let us begin with the questions." The lead senator said after asking all her basic questions. Sitting at the large table behind Ben, Anya shook her leg nervously. She didn't realize how vigorously she was shaking her leg until Rey reached over and took her hand and gave her a comforting squeeze.

The questions began as they had with everyone else, questions about Ben's childhood. Ben was very forthcoming, speaking candidly, openly, and honestly. It was the first time Anya had ever seen him speak so openly and without hesitation. What other choice did he really have, though? He needed to be forthcoming, he needed to be honest with himself and everyone. No more hiding, no more shame, no more regrets. Laying it all out in the open was the only way towards healing. Even though at times... it was ugly.

The entire morning was devoted to Ben's childhood and days at the Jedi Temple with his Uncle. Ben held nothing back when he talked about Snoke and how the dark master invaded his mind. By the time the morning session ended, it was clear that the afternoon session was going to discuss some more weightier topics of Ben's life.

"You're doing so good." Anya said, wrapping her arms around him and pressing herself to his broad chest. They had departed to that blank white room they had now become so accustomed to for breaks and lunch.

"Thanks." He said, squeezing her back and kissing the top of her head.

"You're killing it out there." Poe added.

"Yeah I know it isn't easy." Rey said.

"Let's hope it's all worth something." Ben replied. Lando then walked into the room with a smile on his face. Although he had recused himself from this part of the hearings, he was tentatively listening in from a different room. He was proud of his "nephew". IF anyone understood how difficult it was to talk about those things, it was Lando.

"I'm proud of you." Lando said to Ben, while smacking him on the back.

"I hope I dont let you down." Ben said, looking down at his feet.

"I've got good news." Lando said, looking at Ben and Anya. "We found Nora."

"You have!!!" Anya said with pure glee on her face.

"Where is she?" Ben asked.

"The East Side Orphanage. The Galactic Children's Protection Agency has agreed to arrange a visit. You'll be able to see her tomorrow." Lando said, clasping his hands together in happiness. Both Ben and Anya looked at each other with lit up faces. After all these weeks, they were finally going to see their little girl!

"That's great news!" Ben said.

"Have you seen her? Have you been able to go to the Orphanage? Are the conditions decent?" Anya asked.

"I have not been able to go inside the orphanage, but I've ridden by it. The building is old, rather run down, I can hear children from outside the gates and walls. The facility is an approved care facility by the GCPA." Lando answered.

"I guess all those are good things." Anya replied.

"Yes... yes they are." Lando said. Truth be told, Lando had his reservations. He certainly didn't trust Connix to pick out the best place to put Nora, but just seeing how happy Ben and Anya were in this very moment, he didn't want to ruin that. He just wanted them to have one thing to look forward to.

The afternoon session quickly started and the tough questions surrounding the destruction of Luke's Temple and Ben's joining up with The Knights of Ren were discussed. Ben pulled no punches, he told the story just as it was. He told them how it was Snoke that had actually destroyed the temple, he told them how he was pursued by three of his former temple peers, he told them all how they died; everything.

There was a stillness in the air of the room as Ben spoke. One could hear in his voice how pained he was, how much he regretted everything. It was genuinely visible and audible to all present. The questions then moved on towards his time as Snoke's student and Commander of The First Order. There were many things, many stories of Snoke's manipulations and abuses that Ben spoke about that no one had previously know, not even Anya.

"According to our records, around this time, you were sent to attack rebels near The Void, is that correct?" Ben was asked.

"Yes." Ben answered.

"And what happened?"

"The rebels had support First Order Intelligence had not been made aware of. Myself and the TIE Fighters I flew with were outnumbered. I was the sole survivor of that mission. My ship was heavily damaged, and I was forced to seek refuge at The Oasis." Ben answered.

"It was then that you met Captain Harrow?"

"Yes. She greeted me herself in the hangar when I landed."

"You were at The Oasis for a total of three months... why was that?"

"Snoke was displeased with my performance involving the failed mission to destroy the rebels. He... banished me to The Oasis, as punishment." Ben answered.

"Would you say that you were free of Snoke's influences at this time? Or, was he still influencing you in your mind?"

"My time at The Oasis was the only time I was free... truly free from Snoke. He had totally abandoned my during that time." Ben answered.

"Briefly describe what your time at The Oasis was like."

"It was... peaceful. The personnel aboard The Oasis were the most proficient I had seen within The First Order. I had zero complaints about my time there, I even had the opportunity to work along side some of the mechanics."

"How did you pass your time at The Oasis?"

"I... of course.... spent considerable time with Anya, I worked along side the mechanics repairing ships, and I also took exploratory missions to several uninhabited planets."

"Mr. Solo... who initiated the relationship between yourself and Captain Harrow?"

"I did."

"How long were you aboard The Oasis before you found yourself to be... attracted to Captain Harrow?"

"To be honest... the moment I met her." Ben said with a chuckle. This made Anya also chuckle and smirk.

"So from the moment you met her... how long after that did you two start your relationship?"

"Three or four weeks. We had gotten to know each other on a professional and friendly level first." Ben answered.

"So, your relationship transpired naturally?"

"Yes... very much so. My time aboard The Oasis was truly one of the most peaceful times in my life up until that point. It was the only time in my life while Snoke was alive that I felt clarity of mind and soul. Anya had this calmness to her that... that I couldn't and still cannot explain. When I was... and when I am with her... I feel grounded and tranquil. She was... and is... the kindest and most steady person I have ever met. I think that is what attracted me the most to her, how calm and steady she was.

"She was like a tonic, she is still like a tonic. She was never afraid of me and she never thought ill of me. I knew for a fact that back then I had already had a reputation, yet despite that, she treated me with kindness and grace. She treated me like a peer... like an equal. Something I had never experienced before. My whole life I had always been someone's student... or people were terrified of me. My own father was terrified of me. Not Anya... she saw me for me. I wasn't a monster or some legacy.... I was just her peer... her equal... and I fell madly in love with her for that." Ben found himself rambling on.

Sitting behind him, Anya felt a blush rush to her cheeks. When they were together on The Oasis, they never spoke about their feelings... ever. When they were together they just existed in comfortable bliss, not speaking about their deep inner feelings. They had truly gotten to know each other on relatively deep levels while they were together; yet, how they felt for each other or how they made each other feel outside of sex was never a topic they approached. They had been too afraid of Snoke and of getting caught back then.

She didn't know that that was how he felt. It brought her a sense of pride to know that she alone was able to bring him that much peace, and to know that she had been an anchor during his darkest moments. Although it made her happy, her heart pained with guilt over the memory of leaving him.

"Your relationship with Captain Harrow, how long did it last?"

"A year. I would visit for two or three days almost bi-weekly." Ben answered.

"And no one questioned why you traveled so often to The Oasis?"

"At the time... no. I always alleged I was traveling to The Oasis to do exploration in the search for my uncle."

"You say that Snoke was able to be in your mind, that he could read your thoughts. Where you able to keep your relationship with Captain Harrow a secret even from Snoke?" Ben was asked.

"I thought I was, as it turned out, Snoke knew the entire time." Ben answered.

"Did Snoke approve of your relationship?"

"Snoke... he only approved of things that served his own purpose. Snoke felt that she served well as an asset, a driving motivator towards my journey towards the dark side. In the end, I knew everything was just a ploy. He would have used her too eventually to hurt me." Ben said, hanging his head low.

"What was Snoke's reaction when Captain Harrow left The First Order?"

"He said I had been foolish... that I was too weak... that she was just using me. He said horrible things, things that made be believe briefly that everything had been a lie, that the feelings I felt for her were untrue. He convinced me that she left me just like everyone else in my life had left me or turned on me." Ben said with pain in his voice. Tears stung behind Anya's eyes as she heard this. He knew now why she left, that it was never her intention to hurt him like that. Now it was hitting her that not only did she leave him, ultimately breaking his heart, but Snoke kicked him while he was down. Further manipulating him and messing with his head.

"It is now clear to us that Snoke truly used and manipulated you. That you were honestly and truly victimized. What motivated you to kill him?" A senator asked.

"Rey did. Shortly after Anya left, I was thrust into the events surrounding the destruction of Starkiller Base. It was then that I met Rey. I had always sensed that there was another force user similar in my own abilities out there, but I hadn't found them yet. Once the connection was made between myself and Rey, it was like she was then in my head. She pushed me in ways I hadn't been pushed before, and I was able to see through all of Snoke's lies and manipulation. So I killed him."

"It is notable that during your reign as Supreme Leader, that was when there was a notable uptick in violence and warfare. Can you explain this?"

"I became bitter. Although Snoke was gone, a ghost of his voice remained with me. I felt that there was no going back from all that I had done. So... I pushed forward with efforts to see that the Galaxy was united under The First Order. I regret it all now."

"Mr. Solo... do you believe that if you had been reunited with Anya, things would have gone differently?" A council member asked.

"Yes... and no. I believe things might have been more peaceful in the galaxy had she been by my side, but ultimately the Emperor was still going to show himself." Ben answered.

"I believe we are running out of time with today's session. Before we dismiss, do you have any closing remarks?" A senator asked.

"Yes. I...I've done awful things in my past and I have and I still expect to pay for them one way or another. I bitterly regret all of it. Sometimes I feel stupid when I think back to all the lies I once believed. If I could take it all back, I would, but ultimately this is where life has led me. Ultimately it is the Force that guides us and pushes us to do it's will. I do also want to say that... Anya... my wife... is innocent in everything and anything. She's never given anyone a moment of grief in her life. If it weren't for her... I dont think I would be able to even stand before you today." Ben said in closing.

With that, the panel dismissed everyone. They would continue hearings in two days after reviewing more evidence, and they would even possibly made a decision as to what to do with Rey, Finn, Poe, Anya, and Ben. All they had to do now was wait.

***

The condo was dark and quiet, and the hour was late. Everyone felt good about how the day went. Ben felt refreshed. It was therapeutic to talk about everything, he was able to face it head on. Ben and Anya also had the next day to look forward to, they were going to see Nora.

Ben and Anya laid in bed gazing up at the ceiling, neither of them able to sleep. They were both excited and nervous for the next day. They needed to fall asleep soon, since their scheduled visit with Nora was to be first thing in the morning.

"When was the moment you realized you loved me?" Anya asked.

"Do you remember how I would take all the pillows and blankets off your bed and prop us up next to the window?"

"Yes."

"Well... it was during one of those times and we were sitting there, all tangled up in the sheets. We had just finished having sex and you got up to go to the fresher. When you came back, the light from the fresher hit your face a certain way, it made you glow. You locked eyes with me, and I got butterflies in my stomach and my chest. I knew then I was a total goner." He said, pulling her close to him and pressing her one hand to his chest. He pressed a kiss on the tip of her nose causing her to giggle.

"I then made you cum two more times that night." He said lowly into her ear.

"Hmmm... I think I remember that night." She sighed. After days of living in total anxiety and stress, it felt good to be held by him this way. Although they had not forgotten the source of their stress and anxiety, they for a few moments decided to just enjoy happiness.

"When did you realize you loved me?" Ben asked.

"You had just gotten to the station one afternoon. I remember entering the hangar and seeing you get out of your ship, you had that helmet on and your cloak. I hadn't really dwelled on it much before, or even thought about it, but as you walked towards me I said to myself: I love that man."

"Really? The mask and the cloak too?" He laughed.

"I had a mask kink with you." She laughed.

"You are too much." He said, tickling her.

"Hey! Hey!" She said, pushing him away and trying not to laugh too loudly. He stopped and pulled her close again and this time kissing her. He kissed her slowly and passionately. He took his time, his lips not leaving hers as his thumb made little circles on her cheek.

He rubbed his tongue over her bottom lip seeking entrance into her mouth. She parted her lips and they explored each other's mouths at a slow and steady pace. Their legs tangled with each other and Ben pushed himself on top of Anya. He reached over his head and pulled his shirt off, tossing it to the floor. He then snaked his hands up her shirt and found her breasts. He twirled and twiddled at her nipples until she was softly moaning into his mouth with her hands raking slowly up and down his back raising goosebumps to his skin.

With one fluid movement he removed her shirt from her body and pushed and kicked at his pants until they were lost somewhere under the sheets at the foot of the bed. He moved his kisses from her mouth, down her jaw, down her neck, over her tits, and back up again. He pushed down her panties until her ankles were free of them and they had joined his pants.

"I should have told you how much I loved you back then." He softly said, settling himself between her legs.

"I think I knew." She replied, rocking her hips into his, his length parting her folds and coming into contact with her wetness.

"Fuuuck." He said, burying his head into the crook of her neck. They were close now, physically close, their bodies entirely pressed together. He began to slowly rock his hips, coating himself with her arousal before slipping into her.

They kissed each other softly and held each other tightly as he thrusted in and out of her, his movements slower and more fluid. This wasn't just about sex or meeting an end goal of cumming, no, this was more of an act of connection, an act of deep intimacy and love. It did feel good though.

Anya didn't think it was possible to cum from such slow fluid movements, but she did. She felt light and bubbly as she did, a euphoric high washed over her and she felt absolutely safe and secure in his arms. Ben's own wave of ecstasy slowly rolled over him. He slowed his movements to a halt and just rested on top of Anya. They stayed connected to each other until he went fully soft, and even then they didn't want to part from each other.

Sleep found them easily after that.

***

Anya and Ben paced back and forth in the condo for someone to come get them to take them to Nora. They both woke up very early and readied themselves. The minutes felt like they went by so slowly as they waited. Finally there was a knock at the door and it was Lando. They didn't even invite Lando into say hello to the others, they just pushed him aside wanting to be brought down to the transport and taken to the courthouse.

"Alright. So you'll have three hours with her, it unfortunately will be supervised by someone from the GCPA. They're going to want to use this time to observe what type of parents you are." Lando instructed.

"I wish we could take her back to the Condo to stay with us." Anya said.

"If today goes well, the GCPA might make that recommendation!" Lando said with enthusiasm. The transport arrived to the courthouse and Ben and Anya were ushered inside. A room was set aside and on the other side of the door was Nora and the worker from the GCPA.

Anya and Ben both looked at each other and took deep breaths. Ben's held Anya's hand in one hand and with the other he reached for the door sensor. The door slid open and they stepped inside. They first saw the GCPA worker and a haggard old woman dressed in worn out brown robes. They turned to the side and their smiles dropped from their faces.

Standing off to the side was a child... but it wasn't Nora. Instead it was a child dressed in the dress Anya had last seen Nora in, yet it was not Nora. This child was older by at least two years, had white blond hair, and blue eyes. It was not Nora.

"Wh... where is Nora?" Anya said looking at the GCPA worker.

"This... is this not..." The GCPA worker stammered in confusion

"NO! This is not my daughter!" Ben said with anger in his voice. The GCPA worker turned to the old woman.

"They told me to bring the child in the purple dress... this child is in a purple dress!" The old woman said.

"What kind of establishment are you running if you cant keep track of my child?!" Ben said with a raised voice, stepping towards the old woman in anger. She flinched as he approached.

"I'm sure this is just a misunderstanding. Let me make a call." The GCPA worker said.

"They told me to switch, I'm sorry." The mystery child said in a small voice, all eyes turning towards her. The poor thing looked terrified. She was terrified, dirty, and slightly malnourished.

"No... no it's ok, it's not your fault." Anya said, kneeling down and maternally comforting the distressed child.

"Yes... it's ok." Ben said, also kneeling down.

"Who told you to switch? I promise you wont get in trouble." Anya softly said.

"Master... and the lady." The child said, referring to the headmaster.

"What lady?" Ben asked.

"The lady with blond hair... and black and blue eyes."

*********

**Don't hate me.**

**Also like I said before, I have no posting schedule. I literally write and post these chapters all in one day. We will be traveling a lot over the next two weeks, so I'll see what I can pump out for you!**

**~ Nia**


	31. Track Down

An emergency meeting of the Lead Senators and War Crimes Council was called to order. Kaydel Ko Connix had, effectively, kidnapped Nora Solo. How Connix was able to roam freely and unsupervised considering the fact that she was currently under investigation for Moira's murder was a mystery to all.

Lando pushed for the Council and Senate leaders to make a decision regarding Rey, Finn, Poe, Chewy, Anya, and Ben. He pushed for them to make it immediately. Before the sunset that very night, a verdict was reached.

They all would be able to walk free, but not without consequences. Rey and Finn were informed that they would no longer have privileges with The Resistance, meaning they couldn't just up and call for help when they needed it. Poe was discharged from The Resistance with honors and a modest pension. Anya and Chewy had all charges against them dropped. As for Ben... they all held their breath.

"Mr. Solo. We have taken into account all the evidence placed before us. We recognize that you are partially a victim in all of this, but some of the crimes we cannot excuse. We have come to the decision that you will be allowed to reside as you were on Sorgan with your family. However, you are restricted to that planet and that planet only. Any off planet travels will need to be approved by Council and Senate Leaders. You also will be obligated to serve as a consultant considering any and all First Order intelligence pending future cases against other First Order personnel. After today's hearing, a tracking device will be surgically placed on your person." The Senate Leader said. 

Everyone sighed with relief. Ben would essentially just be monitored for the rest of his life and was restricted to Sorgan. This wasn't a terrible price to pay. They now needed to turn their attention to finding Nora. A Galactic transmission was already sent out detailing that Connix was a wanted woman. The transmission included pictures of both Connix and Nora in the hopes that someone would see them.

In a private room outside of the hearing room, Ben sat waiting for a medical droid to fit him with the tracking device. A lot had happened in one single day. Nora was kidnapped, which pushed the panel to come to a verdict, which now meant they could start their search for Nora. It was all so sudden... and at the same time underwhelming. They had been so focused on the hearings for so long, now their sudden end was like whiplash.

"We are going to start first at that orphanage and take it from there." Ben said with a darkness in his voice.

"Ben... You need to be careful. I sense darkness growing in you again." Rey cautioned.

"Well what do you expect, Rey?! My kid has been abducted! What do you want me to do!? Sit here, peaceful and calm while someone who has known distain for Force Users is heavens knows where with my force sensitive child!?" Ben snapped.

"I just want you to be careful." Rey softly spoke.

"I will be careful! But I'll rip this Galaxy to shreds in order to find Nora! You have no idea what this is like!" He yelled back as the medical droid came into the room. He was right. Rey had no idea what this was like for them. To have one's child taken. She needed to let things be. She reminded herself that things were different now. She needed to trust in the Force. She needed to trust that the Force would flow through Ben how it was supposed to for this situation.

Anya stood leaning against the wall watching the argument between Ben and Rey. Both Ben and Anya were furious. In the time after they discovered Nora had been taken, they had strong words with the GCPA worker, they even tried to shake down the orphanage worker of any information, but she was useless.

The medical droid beeped as it levitated around Ben's head. The tracking device would be place in his neck, just near his spine, that way it could never be tampered with. It was a quick sting, but that was all. Standing in the room too with them was Lando, out of his pocket he took a small remote.

"I'm not turning it on until we get Nora back and we have the three of you safely on Sorgan." He said to Ben and Anya.

***

The transport pulled in front of the Orphanage. Anya was the first out of the transport, she pushed open the front gate with such aggression that it broke off of its hinges. Inside, another pathetic orphanage worker tried to stop her at the door, but Anya easily shoved her to the side. Training behind Anya, Lando and Ben rushed up the front steps.

"Let me handle this." Lando said to Anya once he caught up with her.

"I'm going to talk to him first, then you two can come in." Lando added before knocking on the Headmaster's door. The door opened and Lando stepped inside.

Anya and Ben looked around the terrible establishment. Children poked their little head and faces out of every corner. Most were dressed in rags, others weren't dressed at all. The place reeked of stale urine, flies were abundant, and Rats scurried in the corners. Anya was absolutely mortified that these were the conditions that her daughter had been kept in. The conditions were far from the pristine and tranquil conditions that Anya had made for them back on Sorgan.

"This is hell. This is hell I am sure of it." Anya said.

Inside the Headmaster's office, Lando tried to question the obese man on the whereabouts of Nora and Connix. The man decided to play dumb. He leaned back in his chair with a smug look on his face. His office smelled heavily of cigar smoke and mildew. His office was just as disgusting as the rest of his establishment.

"I know you're lying." Lando said.

"We get kids coming in and out of here every single day. You can't expect me to remember all of them." The man said.

"Surly you should have remembered one that... according to court documents... you were being paid extra to care for. That couldn't have slipped your mind." Lando said.

"I do not recall...." The man said with an annoyingly pleased look on his face. He rocked back further in his chair and twirled his lit cigar in between his fingers.

"Well.... then I highly doubt you were told who's child it was... and I'm sure if you knew, you'd regret losing her." Lando said in a very serious tone.

"Whatever, I'm sure the brat was just like the rest of the brats I have. Just the kid of some Spice users or criminals." The man said, Lando just chuckled and placed both his hands on the man's desk and leaned over it. Lando didn't want to have to bring this up, he didn't want to use it as a card in his negotiation game, but damn.... it was a good card to play.

"You lost the child of the former Supreme Leader... Kylo Ren... surely that rings a bell with you." Lando smoothly said. He watched as all the color drained from the man's face. Over the past week, after things broke in the media, the hearings has been everywhere. It was now impossible to not know who Ben and Anya were and who they used to be.

"Ben! Anya!" Lando said over his shoulder. The door to the office swiftly swung open, hitting the wall as it did so. Standing in the doorway, fully encompassing it, Ben stood. Darkness and sinister calmness written all over his face. 

"Maybe you'll answer their questions." Lando said to the man who was now stammering and blubbering with excuses and pleas. Lando backed away from the desk and exited the room, leaving the headmaster alone with Ben and Anya.

"Please... please..." The man said. With three large strides, Ben was across the room. Grabbed the man by front of his robes, lifted him out of his chair, and slammed his back against the wall, the chair he was sitting in falling to the floor.

"We are only going to ask once... where is our daughter?" Anya said while Ben had the man's feet dangling off the ground.

From outside the office Lando could hear muffled voices, the occasional cry from the headmaster, and what sounded like furniture aggressively moving. Lando chuckled to himself. He expected nothing less from the either of them.

When the door to the office finally opened, he saw that he had indeed heard furniture move. The headmaster was slumped on the floor crying in pain and gripping his left hand. His fingers mangled and pointing... backwards. Ben exited the room first, followed by Anya who looked back briefly at the pitiful man.

"You should find a new profession, caring for children isn't for you." She said.

"Did you break his hand?" Lando asked Ben.

"No... Anya did." Ben replied with a little bit of pride in his voice.

***

Rey, Finn, and Poe were finally able to return to the Resistance Base and gather their personal belongings. It was strange gathering all their items that hadn't been touched in weeks. In a way it was bitter sweet.

Rey blinked back tears as she packed up all her clothes. She had never had so many clothes before and was so grateful. The resistance had become her family, and it was painful to say goodbye.

Down the hall, Poe was having a different experience. After gleefully reuniting with BB-8, he begrudgingly shoved what little items he had into a wooden box, mumbling the entire time. He was already told he would not be permitted to take his X-Wing, but at least he could keep BB-8.

People didn't know how to treat them. It was awkward. Their former peers avoiding eye contact. No one knew exactly what to say to them.

As Rey and Finn packed their items, Rose sheepishly made her appearance. She didn't know whether they would even want to see her, but she had so much to say, and wanted to apologize once more.

"Hey..." She quietly said, tapping on their door.

"Rose."Rey said looking up from her mountain of laundry.

"I... I know you probably don't want to see me... but... I wanted to apologize again." She said, fiddling with her fingers.

"Oh Rose... It's... it's ok." Rey said, getting up to hug Rose. There was no use being mad anymore. Everything was over.

"I just feel so guilty. Now that poor little girl is missing." Rose said with tears in her eyes.

"Her name is Nora." Finn firmly said, Rey could forgive easily, Finn not so much.

"I know... I know... I just wish there was something I could do." Rose said.

"You could tell us if you know if Connix was up to anything in the last week." Rey said, motioning for Rose to sit down on the edge of their bed.

"Well.... I did overhear a few things." Rose confessed.

"Tell us." Finn said.

Rose then went on to explain that Connix and her assistant, Bale, had recently revealed that they were romantically involved. When Connix disappeared, so did Bale. So it was clear that the two were together. Rose also explained that she had seen Connix pulling files on a few already acquitted First Order officials. Most notably, the retired General Darin Splind, who's case had ended a year and a half prior.

"Do you know that name?" Rey asked Finn.

"No... never heard of him." Finn said

"I know who might." Rose said. Finn and Rey followed Rose through the base towards another section of private quarters. Rose knocked on the door and heard a voice on the other side tell them to come in. Inside they saw that it was Hux. He was sitting at a desk reading from a datapad. He looked much better than the last time they saw him. He had been moved out of medical and given his own private quarters.

"Rose!" He said with a cheery look on his face.

"Armie.... we need your help." Rose said. Both Rey and Finn looked at each other with WTF expressions on their face, but they both decided to go along with it. It was clear that in their absence, Rose's distain for Hux had melted over time.

"What can I do?" He asked.

"General Darin Splind. Ever heard of him?" Finn asked.

"Darin Splind? Of course... he was rather scandalous back in the day. He was an Imperial era general, worked briefly along side my father during the transition before retiring." Hux said.

"What made him so scandalous?" Rey asked, watching with slight bafflement as Rose made herself comfortable sitting on top of Hux's desk as if she had done it a million times before.

"He had interests in Genetic Sciences. Things like cloning, genetic enhancements, controlled mutations. He wanted to take the concept of having Clone stormtroopers but instead of clones have them genetically modified to be... super human with force abilities that only the Emperor himself could control. Like puppets. The genetically modified troopers would have force powers, but they themselves couldn't control them, only the emperor." Hux answered.

"The Empire was into a ton of shady stuff... was progress ever made into this?" Finn asked.

"No. It was always a theory that was explored. The science behind it was used in other avenues. I believe Snoke himself used it for his own personal use."

"Snoke himself was essentially a clone. A puppet used by the Emperor." Rey said solemnly.

"Ah... so it was used, albeit not in a grand scale like Splind had hoped. Why the sudden interest in all this?" Hux asked.

"Connix..." Rose began.

"...And the baby." Hux softly spoke coming to a revelation. Everyone now knew of Nora's existence, it was no longer a secret. Color drained from Hux's face and he began to stand up. He ran his hands through his hair as he became lost in thought.

"There is no way Splind would have given up his theories. If Connix delivers the child to Splind..."

"He could start his grand plan." Rey said.

"He'd use Nora as the new genetic donor and raise her to be the puppet master of the new army." Hux clarified.

"We have to tell Ben and Anya." Finn said.

"Splind is on Arkanis." Hux added.

"We need to hurry." Rey said, starting to leave the room.

"Thank you Hux. We... we really appreciate this." Finn said.

"I'm glad to be of service." Hux responded.

***

Rey and Finn got Poe up to speed with everything that they learned and then called Ben and Anya. Ben and Anya had just finished up at the orphanage and were on their way to the base to meet up with Chewy and get on board The Falcon. The headmaster at the orphanage confirmed to them that Connix was traveling with a male companion. He also revealed that he took a 10,000 credit bribe to switch out Nora with another child. As for any other details, he didn't know.

Lando ordered for Connix and Bale's private quarters to be searched. By sheer luck, it was discovered that Bale had taken with him his Resistance issued communicator. This they were able to confirm by tracing it, and it was also confirmed that the two were headed to Arkanis.

"We need support in this." Anya pleaded with Lando.

"The council and senate leaders stripped you of any Resistance support." Lando said in frustration.

"But this is now a matter of Galactic security. If Connix delivers Nora to Splind..." Rey said.

"I know... I know. Let me see what I can do. You all need to head out there, I'll see what I can do from here to support." Lando said.

Entering the hangar, they saw Chewy standing at the ramp to the Falcon. The Falcon was already warmed up and ready to go. When Anya and Ben approached Chewy, Chewy let out a mournful cry and held his head low.

"No... no... it's not your fault." Ben said, reaching out to hug the Wookiee. Chewy then turned to Anya and cried again.

"He's shook up about Moira." Ben translated.

"Oh, Chewy... I am too... but it's going to be ok." Anya said, reaching out.

"Yeah... we are going to get Nora back... we are going to do it together." Ben said.

"You're very limited on time." Everyone turned around to see who's voice that was. They were all surprised to see that it was Hux. He had hobbled down from his room, balancing on a cane.

"Buddy!!!!" Poe said rushing forward to hug Hux. Reluctantly, Hux accepted the hug.

"Yeah... yeah... ok." Hux said, pushing Poe off him.

"What do you mean?" Ben said, stepping forward to look his former rival.

"Arkanis is deep into it's rainy season now, landing will be difficult. I've been reviewing files now since I'm technically a member of the Resistance now. I've been trying to help decipher things. Arkanis is still very much a seat of power for First Order and Empire sympathizers. You and I both know that there's a high probability of hidden ships and bases anyone could disappear into." Hux said, looking Ben dead in the eye.

"This is true." Ben replied.

"You cant let them get to Splind, after that, they could very well just vanish." Hux said, handing Ben a file of information.

"Everything I need is in here?" Ben said looking at the files.

"Maps... strategics... reports... intelligence... last known whereabouts of Splind... everything." Hux confirmed.

"Thank you... I really mean it... you were always good at this stuff." Ben said looking over it all. The compliment was sincere. A small smile tugged at Hux's lips. It made him feel good. After everything that had transpired between the two men, they were now on an equal ground now. It felt good. Like a new beginning.

"Come on... let's go. Thank you, Hux." Anya said, grabbing Ben's arm and tugging him towards The Falcon.

"You're going to find her!" Hux called out to them as they boarded the freighter.

****

**HI!!!! So I wanted to get a new chapter to you guys before I head off on a trip!!!! I hope hope hope this chapter is a good one and if things are still making sense. I hope you're still enjoying.**

**Once again I love love love seeing all your comments and reactions. I'm even tickled to see that my story has made it to some of your TikTok Fanfic recommendations!!!! I truly truly am tickled, like you don't even know.**

**I look forward to seeing all your comments and reactions to this chapter!!!**

**Xoxo**

**Nia.**


	32. Arkanis

Arkanis was a rainy planet. It was normal for the planet to have 2-3 downpours a week, with the rest of the time just being drizzly. During the rainy season, however, it poured relentlessly and nonstop.

The planet had thick ties to both The Empire and First Order, in the few years since the fall of The First Order, relations for the most part had been peaceful, with little to no pushback. It was no secret, however, that most acquitted First Order and retired Imperial Officials still preferred to call Arkanis their home.

The Falcon jolted and jerked back and forth as it made it's entrance into the stormy atmosphere. Everyone gripped to their seats or to the wall near where they stood. With laser focus, Ben and Chewie navigated the vessel through the thick storm. Their goal was to land near Splind's residence and to take the residence and, hopefully, Splind, into custody. To their knowledge, Connix and Bale had yet to arrive.

After they had left Naboo, it took Lando only a few minutes to secure a secret blockade around Arkanis, meaning ships would be able to arrive on the planet, but they could not leave. Connix would be totally unaware once she arrived that she was stuck on the planet.

All at once, The Falcon jerked out of the thick cloud cover of the planet and they planet's surface came into view. They had the coordinates to Splind's residence, and with as much stealth as they could, they landed The Falcon in some nearby trees for cover.

Rey kept in contact with Lando who would inform her the moment Connix's ship entered Arkanis' orbit. So far they had time. With the ship powering down, Ben and Chewie turned towards the others. It was go time.

"The residence is more like a secure compound. It has it's own landing pad, which is where Hux at least thinks Connix will land." Ben began, taking out the information Hux had left him with.

"We should split into two teams. Anya, Chewie, and myself, we will go and stake out by the landing pad. Rey, Finn, and Poe, you start at the front door and secure Splind. We need to lave no trace, Connix needs to think her plan is working. When she lands and disembarks her ship, we will already be on the landing pad waiting for her." Ben affirmatively said.

"Sounds like a plan." Poe said.

"We'll try to be as nice as possible, but Nora's safe return is all that matters." Anya added.

"Connix, Bale, and Splind will be taken into custody." Finn added.

"Dead... or alive. Doesn't matter in my eyes." Anya said with a coldness in her voice. Of course it didn't matter to Anya whether Connix, Bale, and Splind survived. All that mattered was that Nora was safe and unharmed.

Once the plan was fully agreed upon, they all went their separate ways in the ship to get ready. Rey, Finn, and Ben's lightsabers had been returned to them. They dressed for the weather, dressing warmly with cloaks and ponchos. Rey, Finn, and Ben assured that their light sabers were still in working order, and Poe, Chewie, and Anya outfitted themselves with blasters. Before departing, they all hugged or shook hands, then went their separate ways.

"Hey." Ben said to Anya, pulling her to the side. He could sense her nervousness all day. She was never one to be nervous, she was always cool and put together. This whole situation had her completely on edge. When Anya was on edge, so was Ben.

"Hey."

"We're getting her back." He said.

"I know." Anya responded.

"Everything is going to work out."

"I hope so." She softly said, her voice slightly cracking. He leaned down and kissed her, pulling her close, embracing her. She not only needed the reassurance but he did as well.

***

The rain poured down, the sound of it almost deafening. Everything smelled wet and damp, the ground over saturated and muddy. The trek through the trees slightly disorienting as the rain cascaded down from the heavens.

Through the trees Rey, Finn, and Poe made their way towards the front gate of the compound. They were limited with visibility as the rain poured down in buckets upon them. Squinting through the deluge, Poe took out his viewfinder and zoomed in on the gate. Two guards guarded the main entrance and there were three cameras that were recording everything.

Upon acknowledging Poe's observations, Finn moved his hand out of the tree line and manipulated the force, causing water to build up on the lenses of the three cameras. He held the water there as Rey walked out of the tree line.

"You there!!! Stop!" One of the guards said, raising his weapon.

"My speeder broke down some distance from here. I am in desperate need of shelter." Rey said, raising her hands in the air as she continued to walk forward.

"There is a maintenance center a mile up the road." The second guard said

"Might I just take shelter with you here under your awning? I've been walking fo a very long time and I'm soaked." Rey said. The two guard's looked at each other and shrugged. One waved Rey telling her she could join them. Once under the awning with the two guards, Rey mind tricked them and waved for Finn and Poe to come forward.

Using the force, Rey pushed herself to the top of the wall and identified two more cameras on the other side. Using the same trick Finn had used, the distorted the lenses with water. Confirming that they were out of the line of sight from the cameras on the outside of the wall, Finn dropped the water and used the Force to instead push Poe up the wall.

"That was uncomfortable." Poe said once the three of them were on the other side.

"Get used to it." Finn said.

"Come on, we have to keep going." Rey said pulling at them both.

The walk up to the actual building was long and arduous. Multiple times one of them slipped into the mud. Finally, after what felt like a never ending trek uphill, they could see the mansion. The sleek, industrial looking building stood out amongst the rest of the soggy surroundings. Glass and metal accented the space, and light poured out from the walls of windows.

They crouched down behind a shrub and looked into the windows of the mansion. It was clear that Splind had not given up his old imperial and First Order ways just by the looks of his decor. Inside the house, several people had gathered, all of them older, clearly from a different generation. Rey, Finn, and Poe watched as this group of old imperialists were preparing what looked like a party. Most likely some sort of sinister welcome party for Nora.

They watched as one notable older man left the small group and walked out onto a covered patio. He looked up at the sky, checked his watch on his wrist, and then looked up at the sky again. The man was dressed in an all black uniform-esq get up. His hair was entirely white and he was balding. The man in fact was Splind, and he was patiently waiting for Connix's arrival.

"It's just a bunch of old farts. We can take them." Poe said.

"We need to not make a scene. We don't want them to alert Connix before she gets here." Rey said.

"The porch he is standing on is raised. Let's get under there and take it from there." Finn pointed out.

Slowly through the fading light, they made their way undetected to just under the porch. Fortunately, Splind had not moved from where he stood. He still gazed up into the sky and checked his watch.

"Any minute now and our future is secure!" Splind announced to his guests. He turned once more to look out into the rain, it was then that Rey froze him with the force. His guests had no idea. To them he just looked like he was standing, looking off into the distance. Poe and Finn took this opportunity now to run up the stairs. Splind's guests gasped and clutched their chests once they saw Poe who wielded his blaster and Finn who had his saber ignited.

Rey moved up the stairs, careful to keep Splind in her hold. His eyes darted nervously around as she moved him back into the building. Poe and Finn worked quickly to secure the area. Locking doors, stripping the guests of their communicators, and forcing them all to sit in silence.

"None of you will be harmed today, so long as the child is returned to us." Finn said.

"Darrin! What have you done to him!" An older woman, Splind's elderly wife gasped. Rey slowly moved Splind into the center of the room.

"I'm going to release you now. You will not cause trouble." Rey commanded. Rey released Splind and his wife was to her feet and ran to him. Splind had a total look of confusion on his face. Like he couldn't believe he had been caught. Which was true. They were all pompous and cocky, they had no idea anyone had been on to them and their grand plans.

"You don't want to do this." Splind said.

"Yes... yes we do." Rey said.

"How long until they arrive?" Finn asked, but they were met with silence.

"I think we asked a question!" Poe said, shooting two warning blasts into the ceiling.

"Any minute now." One of the terrified women in attendance said.

"Alright then. Sorry to take over your party, but now you all can stay here until we get out little Nora back. Do I make myself clear?" Rey said, pushing Splind and his wife down to sit.

***

Rain was always miserable. Buckets of pouring down rain had to be the worst. Ben, Anya, and Chewie walked around the walls of the compound until they reached the back wall that had the easiest access to the landing pad.

Besides the strong security at the front of the compound, the back was very lacking. Chewie lifted Anya up on his shoulders so she could peek over the wall. She watched thought her viewfinder as Rey, Finn, and Poe effortlessly took control of the situation inside the house.

"They have them all secure." Anya said as Chewie lowered her. Ben's communicator beeped and it was a discreet written message from Poe telling them that Connix was due to arrive any minute.

"Let's get to the pad." Ben said. Chewie lifted Anya again so she could climb over the wall, Ben force pushed himself over and then used the force to help Chewie. Once they were over, they ran towards the landing pad and stood behind one of it's support pillars. The plan now was to wait until Connix landed and exited her ship, then they would capture her and get to Nora.

Back inside the house, Poe made himself at home, taking a glass of the wine that had been poured for the guests and downing it in a few effortless gulps. Rey and Finn took turned circling the small group, keeping a note on all their movements. It felt like time was moving slowly.

"You lost... twice... what makes you think you can do it again?" Rey asked.

"I don't think... I know." Splind said with an air of cockiness to his voice.

"You should have been locked up!" Finn spat.

"You two are fools." Splind laughed. Rey, Finn, and Poe looked at each other in confusion as Splind laughed.

"Long gone are the days of theology and the days of the Jedi. We have science now. We don't need gods to walk among us. We don't need a select few to keep the peace. We can create our own peace!" Splind began.

"We aren't... gods... we are just people." Finn defended.

"Exactly! And with my science... soon... no one will be special like you. I will be able to make it so that everyone can have your powers." Splind said.

"You're lying. We already know that you plan to grow another clone army." Rey said.

"That may be true... but all things must start somewhere. First... I will succeed where my former colleges failed... twice... we got so close with Snoke. It was just a damn shame the emperor held on to his archaic Sith ideologies. I wanted him to push forward.... I wanted him to make an army of Snoke's, but no. That was not to be. He was too hell bent on that "rule of two". Now... now you see we can start fresh. The Sith are no more, now I answer to no one. Now I can build my army I've been preparing for. All with a little help from a tiny little friend."

"Why are you telling us this?" Rey asked. Just then, the distinct sound of a ship entering the atmosphere could be heard. They all looked towards the window as Connix's ship landed down on the landing pad. They held their breath as the ramp lowered.

Below the landing pad, Ben, Anya, and Chewie waiting in eager anticipation. They could see a conversation transpiring between Rey, Finn, Poe, and Splind. They saw and heard Connix's ship enter the space, and they watched it land. The ramp lowered and with it, Connix and Bale descended, on Connix's hip she held Nora close. 

"Because this time... I will not fail!" Splind said, answering Rey's question. At the same time, Splind revealed a hidden blaster and without warning, he blasted a shot at Rey. Rey waited for the pain of a blaster shot to hit her, but it did not come. Instead she felt a sting. Looking down, a dart stuck out from her upper chest, and she watched as it pushed a liquid into her body.

Below the landing pad, Ben felt a shift in the Force. It was a familiar shift, the same he had felt on Exegol, when he could no longer feel Rey's force signature. He turned to look.

"REY!!!!" Finn rushed forward towards where Rey stood in shock looking at the dart in her chest. As Connix and Bale reached the end of the ramp, they could see all that was transpiring inside the mansion. They went to turn to rush back up the ramp, but blaster shots began to ring out. Chewie was on the landing pad, and he was shooting the ship at every possible point of importance. The landing gears exploded, the ship shook, a motor hissed. The vessel was no longer able to fly.

Anya went to rush forward towards Connix and Bale, but she stopped at looked at Ben who stood frozen with confusion looking in the direction of Rey. Inside the mansion, Poe had everyone still under control, and now had Splind subdued with his blaster to Splind's head.

Rey had fallen to her hands and knees.

***

**Hi all. Still doing some traveling. But I was able to find some time to sit down and write. Sorry if this chapter is rushed.**

**The rest of the story is mapped out and I know where it is going to go and how it will end. So I want to say that it is going go be, in total, around 40 or so chapters.**

**Once again, I love reading all your comments and reactions!!!**

**Xoxo,**

**Nia**


	33. Nora

Ben was frozen, he stood in place looking into the mansion, all senses focused on whatever the hell was going on with Rey. Anya reached out and tugged at his arm, but it was to no avail. She knew this was a Dyad thing, and she needed to sit this one out. Leaving him, she started to climb up to the landing pad.

Chewie lunged at Connix who was carrying a now screaming Nora. Connix roughly threw Nora to Bale and he took off running down the landing pad towards the mansion. They knew there was no escape via their now immobilized ship, so they had no choice but to take shelter in the mansion.

Inside, Finn gripped at Rey and lifted her up until she was kneeling on her knees. The irises in her eyes were blown out, fully dilated. She swayed for a moment and looked back down at the dart in her chest. Finn quickly plucked it from her skin, but the drug had instantly taken affect.

Rey shook her head, to seek clarity. She felt somewhat fine... but something was off. Slowly Finn helped her to her feet. They turned and saw that Poe had Splind in a choke hold with a blaster to the old man's head. Despite being in a choke hold, Splind locked eyes with Rey and laughed.

"So it works!" He said.

"What did you do to her!?" Finn demanded.

"I want to give everyone force powers, but I also want to take them away from those who oppose me." He said before sinisterly laughing.

Outside, Ben saw that Rey was ok, he still couldn't register what exactly was going on with her force signature, but at least she was still alive. He would worry about other things later. With one singular Force push, Ben launched himself up onto the landing pad. Landing just in front of Bale.

"DADA!" Nora screamed once seeing him. With to regard to Nora's safety whatsoever, Bale pushed at Ben, shoving him to the side. Ben staggered and then shots began to blast out from Connix. Connix was shooting both at Ben and Anya who were both trying to get to Nora. Below the landing pad Chewie was making his way around the house, determined to gain access to the building from the other side without detection.

In the background, Anya screamed out in pain. Connix had shot her in the leg, fortunately it was only a graze. Anya fired back, hitting Connix in the knee. The two women caught in a fire fight. Anya looked over at Ben and pleaded with him with a singular look to just go after Nora. Nora was all that mattered.

Bale had made his way into the mansion. Poe turned, with Splind still in a headlock and made a point to show that Splind was his prisoner.

"Well two can play at that game!" Bale said, revealing a blaster and holding it to Nora's head. The toddler was sobbing, absolutely terrified. She saw the faces of her friends, but she also saw faces of people she did not know; and she was stuck in the arms of a man who hadn't been kind to her at all.

"Bale, please!" Rey said, raising her arms towards him.

"She's just a baby!" Finn pleaded.

"A particularly powerful baby!!! I could do the galaxy a great service... killing her. Release Splind!" Bale yelled. No one wanted to harm Nora, so looking between each other, it was decided to release Splind. There had to be another way.

As soon as Splind was released, he brandished his blaster once more and shot a dart into Finn. Finn had the same reaction as Rey did. One of Splind's party guests grabbed hold of a nearby bottle of wine, and cracked it over Poe's head. Poe tumbled to the ground, knocked out.

Splind saw Ben rushing down the walkway towards the mansion, but Splind was quicker. Hitting a button on the wall, large metal doors closed all around the doors and windows of the mansion; sealing everyone inside. Ben was just short of reaching the closing doors. He yelled and banged at them. He kicked them and cursed them. It was no use.

Up by the ship, Anya and Connix still fought. Anya managed to blast Connix's blaster out of her hand, and they were now in a fierce hand to hand fight.

"I messed your face up once, I'll do it again!" Anya said.

"Please! You played dirty that time!" Connix said before landing a solid punch to Anya's face. The two women were locked together, fists flailing, feet kicking, blood splattering. It was fierce. Anya managed one good kick, cracking Connix's ribs, removing the breath from her lungs. Connix gasped and stumbled away, her vision fading from the pain. Anya wasn't going to let her go.

Anya reached out and grabbed Connix by the back of her head. Pulled her forward and smashed her forehead into the metal side of her own ship.

"THAT'S FOR MOIRA!" Anya screamed, tears stinging her eyes. The impact was enough to concuss Connix, but not quite enough to knock her out. The woman was fueled by pure adrenaline. Connix turned and with a blood curdling scream, she ran at Anya, jumped on her, and had both hands around Anya's throat.

Anya fell backwards onto her back, the back of her head hitting hitting the stone surface of the landing pad. Connix , still screaming, gripped her hands hard around Anya's throat. Anya struggled to breath as the grip grew tighter, and tighter. Reaching up, Anya tried to claw at Connix's eyes, pull her her hair, anything to make her release. It was no use. Connix had a death grip on her.

The rain poured down, falling on to Anya's face, filling her eyes, blurring her vision. She began to feel herself fade. Her kicks became weaker, her hands grew numb. Tunnel vision took hold, and she suddenly began to feel very very far away.

All at once, there was a release. Air filled Anya's lungs and when she looked up she saw Ben, and a glow of blue. Ben had seen the struggle, he could sense in that Anya's life was fading. Her pulse slowing. He had no choice, he only acted, he couldn't lose Anya, he would be nothing without her.

He rushed forward and ignited his saber, plunging it into Connix's back. Connix fell to the side, gasping for breath. Anya watched as the life faded from Connix's eyes. It was over. She was dead.

"Breathe. Breathe baby.... breathe. You're ok." Ben said, lifting Anya up.

"Nora... where's Nora!" Anya screamed.

"They locked down the house, we need to get inside." Ben said. For a moment they looked around their surroundings. They both had the same thought at the same time. They turned towards the now defunct ship and rushed forward.

Ben worked in the cockpit, finding the ship's weapon's systems. He aimed and fired at the metal doors. Blasts, sparks, and molten metal flew as Ben blasted his way into the mansion. With the doors now melted, Anya and Ben ran forward, only to find that the room where all the people had been gathered was now empty.

***

With Finn and Rey in a confused and disillusioned state, Splind and Bale and his guests were able to overpower them. Brandishing blasters and other weapons they had hidden away, Rey, Finn, and Poe were dragged through the mansion to a hidden doorway that led deep down underground.

"This is perfect. I'll take genetic samples from all three of you to ensure a secure future." Splind said with a blaster held to the back of Rey's head as they marched forward deep down under the ground.

"I thought you said you took the Force from us?" Rey said, a bit weakly.

"It's only temporary. I'll soon rectify that minor inconvenience as my work progresses." Splind answered.

"Shhh. Nora. It's ok." Finn softly said, looking at the toddler who was still crying, being haphazardly carried by one of the old women as they descended down the narrow halls.

Back up in the mansion, Ben and Anya ransacked the place searching for where they could have gone. Out of the darkness, they heard a familiar growl, it was Chewie. He had made it into the mansion before the lockdown and he had managed to hide and see where they had gone.

Behind a painting was a hidden door that opened up into the descending corridor. The details about the topography of the land surrounding the mansion had been included in Hux's report. Seeing just how the corridor was built, and knowing full well how the mind of an old Imperialist worked, Ben concluded that they were heading to a secret hangar that opened up into the canyon just behind the mansion.

"Chewie. Get back to The Falcon and look for that hangar. Anya and I will head down and see if we can stop them." Ben said. Chewie growled in agreement before leaving. Anya and Ben then took off into a sprint down the corridor, the decline of it aiding them as they ran.

At the bottom of the corridor, there was in fact an open hangar. It lay empty waiting for a ship to come and whisk them all away secretly. There was a long walkway that jutted out into the vast canyon, and at the end was where the landing pad was for the ship. Rey and Finn were shoved against the wall, and Poe's slumped body was flung against them. Poe moaned as his body hit Finn's.

"Where are we?" Poe groaned.

"Still fighting for Nora." Rey said.

"Come on, wake up. Get with it." Finn uttered to Poe. Poe began to shake his head and get his bearings. He looked around and saw all the old imperialists whom he had previously thought they could easily overtake. He also saw Nora at the center of them all, now being held by Bale.

It was a strange sight to see. All these ancient looking old people with their boney fingers poking and prodding at the terrified child. They looked at her like she was a prized piece of livestock.

At the exit of the corridor, Ben and Anya crouched down to see what was taking place. They wanted to assess the situation as best as they could to ensure Nora's safety.

"I can't sense Rey or Finn anymore." Ben whispered to Anya.

"Splind must have developed something to suppress the Force in them." Anya concluded.

"You're right."

"Don't get shot." Anya said, as if Ben needed to be told. Ben decided it was best to disarm Splind first. Easily with the force he ripped Splind's dart blaster from his hand and easily crushed it, as if it were a piece of paper.

Anya cared not for the wellbeing of the others in attendance. With sharp precision, she shot their weapons out of their hands and moved her way forward, kicking fallen blasters as she went towards Rey, Finn, and Poe. In the distance they heard the sound of an approaching ship. Through the torrential downpour, an Upsion-class Shuttle appeared and landed on the landing pad that hovered high into the canyon.

Bale and Splind took off running with Nora.

Anya and Ben were in hot pursuit.

Reaching out with The Force, Ben pulled Splind into a Force Choke, dragging Splind's body back to him.

Anya continued to run down the walkway as Bale ran.

The hums of familiar engines could be heard, and then, through the darkness, shots rang out. The shuttle exploded just as the Falcon flew overhead. Nora and Bale were yards away from the destruction, thrown backwards. Bale landed on his back with Nora on his chest. She was no longer crying, she was stunned. She sat up and looked back towards the hangar. She saw her father force choking Splind, and she saw her mother running for her.

Bale quickly rose to his feet. He was contemplating what to do next. Where to go next.

Splind's work would live on without him. Hidden away in the galaxy there were dozens of Splind's secret supporters. His legacy and his work hidden away, available for someone else to take up. Splind's own laboratory where he intended to take Nora was even hidden far away from here. It was possible for the work to progress without Nora and without Splind.

Bale struggled to rise to his feet, and when he did, he made his decision. He began to hobble to the edge of the walk way, this action alone caused Anya to stop in her tracks at the realization of what Bale was intending.

Death was now the only option.

"NO! PLEASE!" Anya screamed. Bale had no time to make up his mind, he felt a tightness grow around his throat. He looked at Anya, he then looked at Ben who was now running down the long walkway with Rey, Finn, and Poe in tow. Finally, he looked at Nora, who's little outstretched hand had him in a Force choke.

Seeing the toddler use The Force in such a way startled him. Nora's force choke wasn't strong enough to incapacitate him, but it was enough to make him hesitate long enough for Anya to reach them.

Anya grabbed at Nora, but Bale continued to hold on. They were dangerously close to the edge of the walkway. Anya freed Nora from Bale's grasp and held her close, all while still struggling with Bale. With one hard shove, Anya shoved Bale off of her. Bale lost his balance and teetered backwards, falling off the edge of the walkway, but not before grabbing onto Anya one last time.

Anya felt her feet go out from under her, she clutched Nora close as they slipped towards the edge. Bale could not hold on to Anya, his grip loosened and he fell into the canyon below, his scream echoing as it faded into the abyss. The only thing that saved Anya and Nora from the same fate was Ben, who's outstretched hand had them frozen in place, mere millimeters from the edge.

Ben pulled Anya and Nora to the center of the walkway and fell to his knees, enveloping his entire body around Anya and Nora. They were safe. They both were safe. Ben squeezed Anya and Nora to him, wrapping his legs and arms around them, squeezing them tightly.

"I got you. I got you." Ben said over and over again. He could hear that both Anya and Nora were crying, he hadn't realized it yet, but he too was crying.

"Mama, dada!" Nora kept saying over and over again with one arm tight around Anya's neck and the other tight around Ben's.

"We're here baby. We're here." Anya replied. Everyone was entirely soaked from the rain. Ben briefly released them and looked intently at Nora, who's little lips had turned blue from the cold.

"We have to get her warm." Ben said, rising to his feet and helping Anya to hers. He still held them close as they walked back towards the hangar.

In the hangar, Rey, Finn, and Poe had fully restrained Splind and the others, tying them together with rope and other things they found. Connix and Bale were dead, but at least Splind and the others would survive to answer for their crimes.

Lando was quickly informed that Nora was safe and that Splind was apprehended. With Splind and his accomplices alive, Lando called for their arrests and within minutes a Resistance ship had arrived to take them into custody.

Through the Canyon, Chewie flew the falcon and hovered it closely to the walkway, close enough for Ben, Anya, and Nora to board. Ben turned towards Rey before boarding the freighter with his family.

"Are you and Finn going to be ok?" He said loudly over the rain.

"Yes! We already questioned Splind! He claims his serum only lasts a few days. His wife even spilled some information and said there was a way to reverse the effects." Rey responded.

"Ok good!" Ben said.

"We are going back to Naboo, we'll come out to you all in a few days." Rey said.

"I'll see you then." Ben responded before boarding The Falcon.

On board The Falcon, Anya stripped Nora of her soaked clothes and diaper and wrapped Nora in whatever dry fabric she could find. The excitement had died down and Nora was beginning to feel safe again in the presence of her parents and Chewie. Nora rubbed her eyes and yawned with exhaustion, her lips, however, were still blue and she was still very cold.

"Arrgh!" Chewie said, taking Nora up in his arms and pressing her to his chest. The warmest place for the toddler to be was in Chewie's fur. Nora began to drift off into a blissful slumber just as Anya laid a kiss on her forehead.

Anya and Ben navigated the ship back to Sorgan. Wrapped with a pile of blankets and other things, Chewie stayed put in the back of The Falcon, his heart content that the toddler was once again safe with him. He no longer felt like a failure.

***

The villa was untouched and just the same as it was the day they were forced to leave. The rainy season had started on Sorgan and they had just left one rainy planet for another, except the rain on Sorgan fell gently with a relaxing calmness to it.

In their bedroom, in the center of that large four poster bed, Ben held Anya and Nora close. Color had returned to Nora's cheeks and lips, and Anya was finally free of the stress and anxiety that had plagued her.

He pulled them both to him until they both were practically on his chest and he sighed a sigh of relief, before kissing them both. He didn't care that he was now slightly uncomfortable under their combined weight, he wasn't going to let them go.

****

**You guys ok? Was that stressful? Feel free to vent to me. I'm always here.**

**Xoxo,**

**Nia**


	34. White

When the sun rose the morning after their return home, Ben turned in the bed to see Anya and Nora sleeping soundly beside him. Both of their angelic faces at peace in their sleep. A light pitter-patter of the gentle Sorgan rain could be heard on the tiled roof of the villa and there was a cold nip to the air.

Very carefully, Ben rose out of the bed, careful not to disturb the sleeping girls. Gently he bent down and kissed them both, neither of them stirring as he did so. He stood back for a moment just to gaze at them.

The thought popped into his head: how could all this be his? For so long he felt so undeserving, abandoned, and incapable of goodness, yet right there, laying blissfully in an ornate bed lay all the goodness the galaxy could ever possibly hold for him. Before leaving the room, Ben took an extra blanket and covered the two.

Down in the kitchen, Chewie was already up and sitting in a rickety wooden chair, a mug of coffee in front of him.

"Morning" Chewie said in Shyriiwook.

"Morning." Ben replied back.

"Did you sleep well?" Chewie asked.

"I did, you?"

"The bed is always too short." Chewie said. The two went back and forth in casual conversation in Shryiiwook while Ben made himself a cup of coffee.

"I have what you asked for. I didn't forget." Chewie said, taking out a little black box. Ben suddenly remembered. Just before shit hit the fan, weeks ago, he had asked Chewie for a simple favor. That favor was to go to Coruscant to get a ring for Anya. Ben wanted to get her another ring to match the one he had already given her, so she would wear them as a proper set.

Ben sighed as he popped open the little black box and looked at the ring. It was exactly as he specified in the sketch he had given Chewie to take to the jeweler. How he had wanted to do everything properly, but that was not to be. Nothing about his and Anya's relationship had ever been proper.

The ring was the same color gold as the band she already had. The center stone was a large, deep red ruby. Set into the gold band were oval cut sapphires and circular diamonds. He could already picture how elegant it would look on her hand.

"You're parents would be proud." Chewie said.

"Yeah?" Ben replied, clearing his throat since the thought made his throat get tight.

"Yeah. All they wanted was for you to be your own man. Things just had to be complicated. You know your dad never wanted to send you to the temple."

"I had heard."

"They just thought it was going to help you. They had the best of intentions."

"I know that now. It just hurt a lot back then."

"They say hindsight is 20/20. We learn best from the past." Chewie said. They both turned at the sound of hearing the stairs lightly creak. Ben got up, knowing exactly who was making the stairs creak.

Sitting at the top step was Nora. She still had a sleepy daze on her face. She yawned and rubbed her eyes before scooting her bum down to the next step and then the next. Ben reached out and picked her up, her warm little body pressed against his as she hugged his neck. Ben brought her back into the kitchen with him. She perked up at the sight of Chewie, but she did not want to leave Ben.

Chewie and Ben continued to chat with each while a sleepy Nora sat in Ben's lap. Eventually, Nora reached out and asked for an apple for breakfast. Ben decided it was time for them all to eat breakfast, so he handed Nora off to Chewie and got to to work on cooking. In no time he had a full breakfast prepared for them, all he had to do now was wake up Anya.

Back up in their bedroom, Anya was just as he had left her before. Curled up and sound asleep. He almost didn't want to wake her, but it was getting to be late in the morning.

He sat down on the edge of the bed and took out the little black box. Carefully, he lifted her left hand and placed the new ring on the same finger as the first one. The two looked complete together. He rubbed his thumb over the two rings and then gently kissed her hand.

Delicately, he kissed the back of her hand, pulling her gently to him, all while kissing her softly up her arm until he reached her face. She hummed and sighed a few times as she was gently awoken from her slumber. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled at the sight of him. She raised her hand to caress the side of his face, but her eyes quickly caught sight of the new ring. This caused her to shoot straight up in bed and stare down at her hand.

"Wh... What?" Anya asked.

"I couldn't not let you walk around without a proper wedding ring." He responded. Her smile grew wide and she leaned forward and kissed him slowly.

"Is that breakfast I smell?" She asked.

"Yes. Come on, Chewie and Nora are waiting." He said.

***

Going back to normal was going to take some time. And going back to normal meant making a few changes. Ben and Anya decided that they wanted to be alone, just the three of them. So Anya dismissed her two kitchen maids, and Ben dismissed the security guards. The former employees were not upset, they totally understood.

It also became very apparent during their first few days home that Nora needed to do some healing. The little one had been through a lot. She slept well their first night home, but after that, she either refused to sleep or would wake up from a nightmare. During the day, Nora was incredibly clingy, not wanting to be away from Ben or Anya for any length of time.

Chewie had to leave to return to Naboo and to his own family, leaving Ben and Anya to work through the adjustment. Neither of them minded the endless cuddles with Nora after the time that they had spent apart. It was at night when things got frustrating.With Nora either refusing to sleep or waking up in a panic, Ben and Anya took turns on "Nora duty".

"Moira would have known what to do." Anya said through a few teary sniffles. It was nearing midnight and Nora had finally dozed off on Ben's chest while they sat by the fireplace in the library. Anya reached up and put her hand gently on Nora's back, the toddler sighed and stirred slightly, but did not wake. It had been a rough few nights.

"I'm sorry." Ben said, putting his arm around her and pulling her close.

"Tomorrow's the day." Anya said. Tomorrow was in fact the day.

Moira's body was going to be returned to Sorgan and a proper funeral was going to be held. Anya had taken the time to visit Moira's sons upon her return. Part of Anya was terrified that Moira's sons would be angry with her or blame for their mother's death. Moira's sons assured her that she was not to blame, and that Moira had loved both Anya and Nora so much that it was only natural that she would lay down her life for them. The two men had been extremely forgiving, even though Anya didn't feel like she deserved it.

"The rain is clearing. I have a feeling that it will be sunny tomorrow." Ben said before kissing the top of Anya's head.

"I hope so." Anya said. Nora began to whimper in her sleep. Under her closed eyelids, her eyes darted back and forth. It was clear that she was dreaming. The fact that Nora had been having so many nightmares was very unsettling to Ben. He recalled his own time as a child when Snoke first started to invade his mind. He didn't want that for Nora.

Ben slowly lifted his hand and carefully, using the force, he peered into Nora's mind. He just wanted to be sure. He needed confirmation that nothing sinister was now haunting his child. He almost wished he hadn't done it, but he just needed to know.

He saw little flashes of memories through the eyes of a child. He saw when Connix took her from Chewie and Moira. He saw what she saw in that hidden hangar in Cloud City. He then saw the orphanage. He could hear the cries of the children and he felt the terror and insecurity that Nora felt. Her memories shifted and he saw what she had seen on Arkanis. It was horrific, even more so though the eyes of an innocent child. Ben dropped his hand and brought it to the bridge of his nose.

"What did you see?" Anya asked.

"What happened with Moira, the orphanage, Arkanis." Ben said, shifting to wrap both his arms around Nora, squeezing her tightly.

"I feel like the Galaxy's shittiest mom." Anya said, a tear falling down her cheek.

"Shhh... don't say that. It will be better. We are going to make it better." He said pulling her close to him.

***

Just as Ben had predicted, the rain cleared for the day and the sun was bright and shining. Rey, Finn, Poe, Chewie, and Lando arrived early in the morning to attend the funeral, which was to be held late in the afternoon. They all lingered around the villa for the morning, trying to be as respectful and somber as they could. Lando took the morning to activate the little device that had been placed in Ben's neck.

White was the official color of mourning on Sorgan.

With everyone dressed in white, the entire town gathered in a wide open field just outside of the town. It would be here that the life ceremony would take place. The life ceremony was meant to celebrate the life of the departed.

A large funeral pyre had been erected and Moira's body, wrapped tightly in white linen was carried in by her sons and placed on the Pyre. They gathered all in a circle and a pile of flowers began to be built up over the pyre. The higher the pile of flowers, the more loved the person was. Moira's pile of flowers ended up being double chewie's height.

After the pile of flowers was built, music was played. Moira's own sons and daughter in laws sang and led the crowd in song. Several of the song's Anya recognized since they had been Moira's favorite. Anya recalled how Moira would walk the halls of the villa or work in the kitchen while humming or singing.

During the musical portion of the day's ceremonies, Anya bit her tongue and tried to remain composed. After all this time, she still didn't like other people to see her cry. Old habits were hard to break.

After the music was finished, it was time for the Sharing Meal. The Sharing Meal was a traditional meat and vegetable stew that was shared by everyone. They all sat in the grass around the pyre and flowers sipping out of wooden bowls. Ben looked over at Anya who had her bowl, untouched, sitting next to her in the grass.

"Hey... you haven't eaten all day." He said softly to her.

"I'm not hungry." She said.

"Just take a few sips of the broth." He said, holding the bowl up to her lips.

"I said I'm not hungry." She said a bit harshly to him, while shoving his hand away. That wasn't like her, she was always kind, sweet, and respectful to him. He could tell she was trying to hold things together, but she didn't need to hold it together any more. She didn't need to put up a tough front or expect people to only think of her a certain way anymore. Those days were over.

Ben sighed and pulled her bowl away from her, if she wasn't going to eat it, he might as well. He knew deep down she needed space and time when it came to all of this. He looked back up at her and noted how she was just gazing off into space facing in the direction of the pyre.

After the sun set, it was time for the final act of the life ceremony, and that was the lighting of the pyre. Ben looked over to see that Nora was content spending time with Rey and Finn as the final act began. Quietly he walked over to Anya's side and put his arm around her. Anya reached out and wrapped her arm around his waist, all without looking away from the Pyre.

"Hey..." He began, but she did not turn to acknowledge him. They watched as two flames were lit and handed to Moira's sons. They then watched as Moira's son's approached the Pyre. Ben turned to Anya as she let out a labored breath, clearly continuing to fight away her tears.

"Hey... it's ok. Let it out. I've got you." He softly said to her, leaning down into her ear.

The flames caught onto the Pyre and soon began to dry and burn the flowers. The aroma of the flowers filled the air and the light from the flames illuminated the whole field. Within minutes the Pyre was engulfed in flames. Ben felt a shudder come from Anya and he looked down to see her tear stained face.

As embers flew high into the night sky, Anya broke down, a river of tears falling from her eyes. She buried her face into his chest and just sobbed. He was there to hold her up, he made her feel secure to let the feelings flow in front of so many people.

"No mama, no cry." Anya heard Nora's little voice say as Rey and Finn approached.

"It's ok. Mama can cry. It's ok to be sad sometimes." Ben explained to the toddler. Rey, Finn, Poe, Lando, and Chewie gathered around Ben and Anya and together as a group they watched the pyre burn while Anya quietly cried.

***

They stayed out in the field long after the fire had died down and there was nothing left but a pile of smoldering ash. Rain clouds rolled in once more, a reminder that the rainy season on the planet wasn't quite over yet. Anya, Ben, Nora, Rey, Finn, Poe, Chewie, and Lando all returned to the villa for the rest of the night.

Nora was asleep in Ben's arms as they crossed the threshold into the villa. Carefully he carried her up to her bed and tucked her in, hopeful that she just might sleep in her own bed that night. In the library everyone else had gathered. The whole mood was somber, yet there was still a feeling of relief.

"Moira's sons will receive a million dollar credit compensation for the wrongful death of their mother. The officers involved that day have been relieved of their duties and will be undergoing training and hard labor services for the next six months. Really, the person at fault was Connix, and she's out of the picture." Lando said as he sipped on a glass of whiskey.

"What of Splind and his associates?" Anya asked, her voice a bit hoarse and her eyes swollen from crying.

"Splind and his associates have been sentenced to life in detention. We were able to track down his laboratory as well as a dozen more of his followers. His laboratory was hidden on Geonosis, typical of him to be totally unoriginal." Lando said.

"It's going to take generations to fix the wrongs of the Empire and The First Order." Rey sighed.

"Nothing is every going to be perfect, no matter how hard you try." Finn said.

"It feels like I just wasted my time." Poe scoffed.

"What do you mean?" Anya asked.

"I spent all that time working with the Resistance, being their best pilot, and general. Here we are, we won the war, but did we really? The attitudes and beliefs the Empire and First Order held still live on. Splind proved that." Poe explained.

"That's why it's going to take generations to fix it. Nothing is going to be fixed tomorrow, or even the next day. All we can do is lead by example and teach future generations about past mistakes and triumphs." Rey said.

"Work together. I always firmly believed that if both sides just talked more instead of focused on their differences, things would have been different." Anya said.

"I agree." Finn said.

The hour was getting late and everyone was exhausted. One by one they retreated to their own bedrooms, Anya the last to stand at the bottom of the stairwell. She looked around her home, the villa she built... no... the villa she and Moira built. Moira picked the paint color of the very hallway Anya stood in, and she had sewn the curtains that hung in the library. This had been Moira's home just as much as it was Anya's.

Anya slowly walked through the house and looked into the empty rooms and replayed various memories over in her head. In the sitting room she remembered how Moira would rock a colicky Nora when Nora was only a few weeks old. In the dining room Anya remembered how Moira would pull out all the silverware and polish it when the first thunderstorm of summer arrived. The main floor bathroom reminded Anya of all the times Moira held her hair back while she vomited into the toilet from morning sickness when she was pregnant with Nora.

The kitchen held the most memories. In the early days on Sorgan, Anya probably wouldn't have lasted long without Moira's help. Between Anya's morning sickness and lack of knowledge on how to cook, Anya probably would have allowed herself to starve. It was Moira who patiently taught a grown woman how to cook.

Even at that very moment, Anya in her mind could see Moira's weathered hands working on the working table kneading bread dough. Anya could see a memory of Moira standing at the stove stirring and adding spices to a stew, or standing at the skink snapping green beans. Anya had taken all of Moira's cooking lessons in stride and had become an excellent cook herself, but there was one dish Anya never seemed to master, and that was Moira's overnight sweet and sour dough bread.

The hour was late, but Anya didn't care. She grabbed Moira's old apron off of the hook where she had left it in the kitchen, and pulled down the ingredients she knew she needed for the bread. It was a challenging recipe because it took so long. Anya used to nurse Nora in the rocking chair in the corner of the kitchen and watch as Moira whipped together the dough so it could rise overnight and be baked in the morning.

Squeezing her eyes closed, Anya tried her best to remember exactly how Moira made the dough. Anya was so lost in thought and in her memories, it was as if she could hear Moira's voice in the kitchen.

"There you go, make sure the water isn't too hot, it'll burn the yeast. Only add a little bit of flour at a time, you can always add more flour, you can't take it away." Moira coached Anya.

Slowly the dough began to form, and Anya grew proud of herself. Carefully, Anya lifted the dough and placed it in a ceramic bowl, covered it with a clean dish towel, and placed it on the top shelve of the cabinet Moira always used to let her dough rise.

"This is my rising shelf. It's far enough from the stove so that it isn't too warm, but close enough so that the dough rises good and tall." Moira would say.

Pleased with herself, Anya began to clean up the kitchen. She had been so lost in thought she hadn't noticed that Ben had come downstairs looking for her. He stood silently in the doorway with his arms crossed just observing her. In the dim lighting he saw how the dough moved in her hands, how the dust from the flour danced around in the air, and most importantly, how at peace Anya looked.

Anya jumped when she turned around and saw him standing there. He smiled and crossed the room with his arms outstretched towards her.

"How long have you been standing there?" She asked with a chuckle.

"Long enough." He replied, pulling her towards him and into an embrace.

"I love you. I'm sorry for being a bit mean earlier." Anya said.

"I love you too, and don't worry about it." He said, hooking a finger under her chin and tilting her head back so he could kiss her good and slow.

*******

**Howdy.**

**I'm back from my travels and I got to think long and hard about the rest of our story here... annnnnnd... I have ideas for a new story for when this one is finished!!! Do you all like Y/n stories or do you prefer another Original Character. Lemme know!!!!**

**Xoxo,**

**Nia**


	35. Normalcy

The days and weeks that followed brought back a sense of normalcy. As routines returned back to normal, so did Nora's sleep schedule, but it wasn't entirely perfect all the time.

One singular oil lantern gave off it's golden hue in their bedroom, and the villa was quiet , save the soft sighs and quiet moans that came from Anya. Ben was under the blankets and sheets, his head and face comfortably warm between Anya's thighs as his mouth and tongue pleasured her.

Anya reached down under the covers and gently raked her fingers through his hair, a signal of approval to him. She was getting close, she could feel it. It had been nearly a week since they had had any time to be intimate together. They had been so busy recently with Nora, she had been so clingy, and only a few days prior did she finally start sleeping in her own bed again. They had to resort to quick moments of release locked in the pantry or their room while Nora was either occupied with a holotoon or napping.

Ben slipped two fingers inside of her and began to curl them up, hitting her sweet spot just right. She couldn't stop herself from releasing an audible sigh and arch her back off the bed. She gripped at his hair with one hand and the sheets with the other, any moment now, she would feel that sweet release that only he could give her.

All of that was not to be.

Anya's eyes shot wide open and Ben rolled right off of Anya the moment the doorknob on their bedroom door started to jiggle. The door slowly opened and standing on the opposite side was little Nora, sniffling with tears in her eyes. Anya tugged at her nightgown so that it would cover her lower half before she got out of the bed.

"No... I got her." Ben sighed as he stood up with his back to Nora. He was clothed in his pajama pants and he made a quick adjustment of himself to ensure decency before turning back to Anya and planting a kiss at her temple.

"Keep working on yourself, but don't finish until I'm back." He quietly said to her, Anya couldn't help but feel a heat rise to her cheeks and a mischievous smile crossed her lips. She flopped back down on to her pillows and watched as Ben went to Nora and picked her up. He shot her once last look before he closed the door behind him, taking Nora back to her own bed.

Taking a few moments to relax again, Anya slipped her hand down beneath the sheets pulled up her nightgown and began to pick up where her husband's mouth had left off. She sighed loudly, it wasn't the same as when Ben did it, she liked his... everything... better. She twirled, rubbed, and bucked into her own hand, desirous of a release, but she held off.

It didn't take long for Ben to return. This time he shut the door behind him and took the chair from her vanity and wedged it up under the doorknob. They both knew that Nora would be fine, she was back asleep, but if she woke again, a few moments alone in the hallway wouldn't hurt her.

Ben crossed the room and reached the foot of the bed. He pulled his pants down to his ankles, releasing his length, before ripping the covers off the bed. He watched, his eyes dark with lust, as Anya's fingers twirled at herself. He gave himself a few pumps before crawling up the bed and situating himself between her legs.

Their nights of slow, and at times, rough lovemaking were probably over. This was probably going to have to do.... for now.

Ben grabbed Anya's wrists and pulled them up over her head, pinning her down. He pushed his length between her folds, coating himself with her wetness before slipping into her. He groaned with pleasure, feeling her walls constrict around him. She too moaned, grateful for the relief of him filling her whole.

He snapped his hips against hers and began to feverishly thrust in and out of her. Keeping her wrists pinned above her head with one hand, he brought his other down to twirl at her clit. She had already been close before, and now this was definitely pushing her over the edge. He thrusted through her constrictions, feeling how her walls clamped down and then released him as she came. Her soft whimpers music to his ears.

Her whole body relaxed once she came down off her high, but he still continued. He released her wrists and sat up more. He took her one leg and brought it over to the other side, all without missing a beat with his rhythm. Her legs now crossed and to one side, he picked up his pace, her new position making her walls tighter and the sensations he felt stronger.

"Shiiiiit...." He groaned out as he came, filling her up with his load. He pulled out of her and flopped to the side and pulled her close to him. They both caught their breath for a moment before he gave her a toothy smile and a deep dumb giggle.

"I love you." He said, pushing down the top of her nightgown so he could lay a trail of kisses over her breasts causing her to giggle.

***

Spring gently came to Sorgan, and with it it brought endless days of sunshine, warm but cool air, and lush greenery. Birds and small critters returned to the Villa gardens, and the flowers that Anya worked so hard to cultivate began to bloom once more.

Ben stood out far against the villa grounds so he could look over the building. A portion of the roof over the kitchen needed to be replaced, vines were growing over some of the windows, and a few spots in the stone walls of the building needed new mortar. He had no experience being a handyman, but he was going to try. He had a new found pride in his new home. He acknowledged that Anya was the one who really built it it up, but he wanted to care for it.

Rey and Finn came to visit on one sunny afternoon. Anya and Nora had been in the kitchen garden, Anya was already hard at work planting her vegetables for the year and Nora was just happy to explore and observe all the bugs and critters. Ben was up on the roof inspecting the portion that needed to be replaced when saw Rey and Finn first as they made their way down the hill.

"Look it's Auntie Rey and Uncle Finn." Ben called down to Nora. Nora got all excited and ran to the gate. She did a little dance as they appeared. Both Finn and Rey were smiling from ear to ear.

"Well! We finally found a place!" Finn announced as they all sat down for a snack after being welcomed into the home.

"Oh congratulations!!" Anya said from the kitchen.

"Where's it located?" Ben asked, handing Finn a glass of beer.

"It's still on Naboo, in a more rural area. It's by a lake. It's only a cottage with two bedrooms, but it'll do for now." Rey said, putting her hand up to Ben to decline as he offered her a glass of beer.

"What's Poe up to?" Ben asked.

"He had an old girlfriend.... Zorii Bliss... apparently they're back together, so he's with her." Finn said.

"We'll see how long that lasts. They fight constantly, and have tried to kill each other on more than one occasion." Rey added. Anya then came into the room with Moira's sweet and sour dough bread that she had finally mastered, cured meats, some cheeses, and a few jelly assortments. She placed the tray of appetizers down and turned to Ben who handed her a glass of beer.

Anya looked around the room, pleased that everyone was happy and content. Nora was coloring in the corner and everyone had a drink in their hand. Well... almost everyone. Anya looked over at Rey and squinted her eyes in suspicion at her.

"You're not drinking." Anya deduced.

"Ummm..." Rey began.

"Well..." Finn tried to interject.

"OH MY STARS!" Anya exclaimed, and jumped up and down, almost spilling her beer.

"What? What's happening?" Ben asked.

"Are you pregnant!?" Anya asked, putting her beer down so it would be safe and running over to Rey.

"Yeaaaaah." Rey sheepishly said. Anya squealed with delight and pulled Rey in for a hug.

"No fucking way..." Ben said, slapping Finn on the shoulder.

"No bad words!" Nora yelled from her corner, to which everyone laughed.

"It's still super early, but we wanted to tell you guys first, no none else knows yet. We are going to just do a quick courthouse wedding on Naboo and leave it at that." Rey explained.

"Ohh, I'm so happy for you!" Anya said.

"I finally convinced her to marry me." Finn exclaimed. Anya and Ben were over the moon for Finn and Rey. They sat around the rest of the afternoon just chatting about it all. Anya wanted to know about baby names and ideas, she was also quick to educate Rey all about pregnancy and babies, all of which Ben and Finn also had no idea about. The two men just sat there, slightly disgusted at times, but also intrigued.

The evening was spent in pure happiness and celebration for Rey and Finn. Ben and Anya would of course keep the news a secret until they were ready to share it publicly. The two felt honored that Rey and Finn had chosen to share the news with them exclusively first. After the excitement about their news died down, a more serious topic was discussed, and that was the current affairs of the Galaxy.

It seemed like things were back on track when it came to the new senate and The Resistance. New measures were put into place when it came to investigating First Order officials and keeping tabs on already acquitted officials. Rey and Finn informed Ben and Anya that Hux was actually proving to be very valuable to the new Senate and Resistance. He was extremely intelligent and knowledgeable when it came to deciphering old First Order documents, and the new Senate was even going to start to let him work as an official negotiator for peace relations.

"Well I'll be damned." Ben said.

"Did you know... you know... back then... that Hux was the Mole leaking us information?" Finn asked.

"Oh yeah. I knew from day one." Ben said in a matter of fact tone.

"And you didn't do anything!?" Rey said with a laugh.

"I actually thought it was kind of funny. I wanted to see what would happen. At first I just let it all slide, but once the other Generals and Commanders started to question things, I had to take it seriously." Ben chuckled.

"Gosh... I would have paid to see all that." Anya said, smirking into her third glass of beer.

"He always looked like he was about to crap his pants any time I entered a room." Ben laughed, to which everyone else laughed at the thought of it.

"Oh poor Hux." Anya laughed.

"He's a good guy." Finn added. After that, everyone sighed, and Rey announced that they had only intended for this to be a short trip, they didn't want to spend the night. Anya insisted that they stay, but Finn and Rey had other plans and wanted to head back to Naboo. Rey and Finn promised that they would transmit their wedding to them as soon as they had a date set at the court house. Anya made sure to make them promise not to forget.

Rey and Finn squeezed Nora a few times and gave her a few tickles before they said their goodbyes, and the little Solo family watched as Rey and Finn left to walk up the hill where their ship was landed.

**************

**Long A/N**

**Sorry this is a short chapter.**

**I do have to say... we are nearing the end of our story here. I am so sad!!! Looking back I wish I had spent more time with Kylo/Ben and Anya on The Oasis, but this was never meant to be a story only about smut. It was always meant to be something bigger than that. I mentioned previously our story here is going to only be about 40ish chapters, so it might be 40 or it might be just under 40... we shall see.**

**I hope I don't bore you all too much as we tie up some loose ends to make our story here complete.**

**Also... I've said it a million times, I love reading all your comments and seeing your reactions. I've been trying to promote my fic over on TikTok, but I suck at edits. I was thinking today how I would love to see how you guys view the story. I have things pictured a certain way in my brain and I try to convey them though written word here, but we are all different and it would be neat to see how you all view it. Any who, if you feel so inclined to, I would love to see any thoughts, reviews, aesthetic/edit videos on TikTok, feel free to tag me (@commander_nanata). As I plan our next story, any feedback/reviews/thoughts on this one will help me to become a better writer!**

**Thank you all!!!**

**Xoxo,**

**Nia.**


	36. Spoiled

The morning of Nora's third birthday, Anya took out photobooks that were filled with pictures, holos, and various mementos from when Nora was a baby. She woke up early before Ben and worked hard to prepare a special breakfast. She was assisted by Nora who was excited to make pancakes. Not only was it a special day for Nora, but it was going to be a special day for Ben as well.

Ben woke up to the smell of breakfast wafting up into the bedroom. He followed the scent downstairs to where Anya had put together a spread of food in the dining room. He gazed over the spread and was surprised to see the display of pictures, holos, and other things.

"Oh! You're up already!" Anya said cheerfully.

"What's all this?" Ben asked.

"It's for you and Nora." Anya said, ushering him to sit down at the head of the table while she put Nora in her chair. Ben watched with wide eyes as Anya made him a generous plate of food and placed it in front of him. He waited until she served herself and Nora before he dug into the dish. He was beginning to get curious, he wanted to look at all the things.

"Start here." Anya said, handing him a little book. Between bites of his breakfast, Ben opened up the book and his eyes grew wide at the sight of pictures of a pregnant Anya. Anya had documented everything as best as she could. She had no idea back then if he would ever get to see these pictures, but part of her pushed her forward to document it all, for Nora's sake at least.

"Wow... you look..." Ben began.

"Like a fat Bantha?"

"No.... amazing." He said, without his eyes leaving the pages. Anya watched him with eager eyes as he flipped through the pages. He looked up form one of the pictures and smiled wide.

"She was so tiny!" He exclaimed, coming to the first picture of a newborn Nora. He thought she was tiny now, and it was blowing his mind to see that she, at one time, was much smaller.

"She was the teeniest thing I had ever seen." Anya said, leaning over to also look at the picture. Nora was born with a full head of jet black hair, but she was the teeniest little thing. There had been nothing wrong with her, she just happened to be born very tiny.

"That me!" Nora said pointing to the picture.

"Yes baby, it is you. You were so small." Ben said, showing Nora the picture.

"I three today!" Nora said.

"Yes! Good job!" Anya praised.

"I go school?" Nora asked with a face covered in syrup.

"School?" Ben asked.

"The village school takes students starting at three." Anya explained. Ben put the book down for a moment and thought. Would it be too terrible to send Nora to school? Ben himself had just been schooled at home until he got shipped off to the temple. It would also be a good idea for Nora to start making friends her age and be normal kid.

"I was going to talk to you about it, and see how you felt." Anya began.

"We can try it out and see how she does." Ben said. Both Nora and Anya smiled at each other.

After breakfast, Ben helped Anya clean up and they all got ready for the day. Anya dressed Nora in a special dress and put flowers in her hair for the special occasion. Ben couldn't help but feel so spoiled just with Anya and Nora's presence. Both his girls looked beautiful and he was proud to walk into town with them.

It was their first time going in public since... everything... happened. For a brief moment, Ben felt nervous, but when they entered the Village, an older man greeted them with a wide smile.

"Good Morning!" The man declared and bowed his head respectfully to the family. It was Ben's first time in the village and he couldn't help but appreciate how quaint it was, and no one treated them any differently. That was the beauty of living on Sorgan. The planet was so remote and free of outside influences, no one exactly knew who Ben and Anya were or who they used to be. Sure, people had learned a little bit from the news of Moira's death, but to the village folk, it was all in the past.

The sun shined brightly and the breeze was cool as they walked through the village. Nora waved at everyone she passed. Finally, they came to the school. From outside the little stone walls they could hear the happy sounds of children playing and learning. It was a far cry from what the Orphanage was. This building was immaculate, children played and sang, and attentive teachers oversaw them all.

"Good morning!" One of the young cheery teachers said, coming over to them and greeting them.

"Hello." Both Ben and Anya nervously said at the same time.

"And who do we have here?" The teacher said, kneeling down to greet Nora. Nora became shy and hid behind Ben's leg.

"It's ok, say hello." Ben softly said.

"My name is Tula... what's your name?" the teacher said to Nora.

"Nora. I'm three." Nora softly said. The teacher laughed and then stood up to shake Ben and Anya's hand.

"I take it you want to enroll today?" She asked.

"Yes." Both Ben and Anya said at the same time. The teacher smiled and welcomed them into the school. She gave a very thorough tour and introduced them to the other teachers and a few of the students. There were at least four other children Nora's age who would be her classmates.

"Well... what do you think? Do you want to go to school?" Anya asked Nora.

"YES!" Nora squeaked.

"She's more than welcome to stay the rest of the day and then start a full day tomorrow. Classes start at ten." Tula said. Both Ben and Anya looked at each other nervously, before they could decide for themselves, Nora had let go of their hands and ran to play with the other kids.

"I guess that answers that." Ben said.

"You can pick her up at three or one of the older kids can walk her home." Tula said.

"Oh, we'll pick her up." Ben said. The two nervous parents watched as Nora disappeared without a look back to them to play with the other kids. It was quite the sight to see, two nervous young parents trying to peek over the school walls to check on their kid. As the afternoon went on, Ben and Anya set up camp on a bench right outside the school to wait for Nora to come back out. They purchased for themselves a lunch from one of the local merchants and sat nervously.

"First day of school for the little one?"An older man asked as he passed.

"Yeah." Ben answered.

"Ahh... The first week is hard, but trust me, you'll have so much more time for yourselves at home!" he chuckled before going about his business.

While Ben and Anya waited around for Nora, a few of the villagers came by to greet them. Anya had been known to come into the town every once in a while, but she never lingered long enough to develop a relationship with anyone. Now, people were curious and wanted to get to know them. At first Ben and Anya were awkward, but the villagers were so kind and sweet, they made them feel right at home.

"This is nice." Ben said. He meant it. He shook his head at the thought that he actually felt like a normal human, and it was nice. A lot of things had been nice recently, he was finally finding himself to be truly at peace. He put his arm around Anya and pulled her tight against him.

***

Nora adjusted well to school. Ben or Anya walked her down to the village every morning and after the first two weeks, one of the older kids offered to walk her home in the afternoons. Ben, being overly cautious and protective, was nervous about it at first and would pace back and forth at the villa gate until he saw the two kids crest the hill. He had to get out of the mindset that something bad was going to happen. Nothing bad was going to happen, not anymore.

Having Nora in school allowed for Ben and Anya to finally have the house to themselves. Not only did they get to enjoy each other's company, free of the fear that Nora would walk in any moment, they also got to work on projects they had been putting off. Together Ben and Anya worked on the Villa.

Ben found that it felt good to work with his hands. He soon learned that he actually was quite a good handyman around the villa. Not only did he find enjoyment in working on the Villa, but soon work came in for him from The Galactic Senate and Resistance.

Part of his sentence was that he had to act as a consultant and advisor to new First Order Official cases. As the files came in, he combed thorough themand inputted his opinion on the matter or deciphered whatever it was that needed deciphering.

"What's this on?" Anya asked, coming up behind him and wrapping her arms around him as he sat in a chair at the desk in the library.

"Radar advancements. It used to be top secret." He said, clicking his Datapad off and swiveling around in the chair, knocking Anya off balance and pulling her onto his lap.

"Hmmm. Was that something you were working on?"

"I was aware of it." He said, rubbing his nose over her lips.

"Are you almost done?" She said, pursing her lips and kissing him right on the tip of his nose.

"Hmmm... I am now." He said, squeezing her tightly to him. He pushed her head to the side with his face and brought his mouth to her neck and bit down hard, eliciting a small yelp from her. He tried to pull away from him, but he held on tightly to her. He released her tender flesh form his mouth and instead left a trail of wet kisses down the side of her neck and up the other side, eventually connecting with her mouth.

He kept her locked to him with one arm while he brought his other hand up to her breasts. He smiled into her mouth when he felt that she wasn't wearing a bra. He palmed over her hardening nipples and kneaded at the soft, warm flesh through the delicate fabric of her dress.

"Why are you so... delicious?" He lowly said in a tone that sent a shiver down her spine. One would think two people would get tired of each other and that things would become routine after a while, but that would never be the case with Ben and Anya.

Anya nudged his face away from hers and brought her mouth to his neck. He tossed his head back, feeling the sensations of pleasure at her soft mouth leaving little wet kisses down his neck. Although he didn't do it often, giving up control to her was his guilty pleasure.

She shifted her weight on his lap until she was straddling him. The office chair they sat in was an old wooden one that didn't have armrests and sat low to the ground. Anya could easily straddle him with her feet comfortably on the floor.

He felt as her nimble fingers worked up his shirt, popping the buttons open one my one until his chest was open and exposed. She brought her mouth back to his and ran her tongue along his bottom lip before nipping at his lips. He felt her hands again rub down his chest, for the briefest of moments she pinched his nipples.

"Hey!" He said, pulling back, almost pushing them right out of the chair. All she did was giggle. He brought his hands up to her hair, and fisting her hair at the name of her neck, he brought her mouth back to his and bucked his hips up into hers.

He grabbed at the fabric of her dress and began to pull it up, his hands brushing at the softness of her legs. Not only was she not wearing a bra, but she also was lacking panties.

"Oh you dirty girl." He said as he pushed his fingers through her folds, his middle finger easily slipping inside of her while he pressed the heel of his hand into her mound. She tossed her head back with a moan and ground her core into his hand. Her hands slipped down from his shoulders and her fingers began to work at the ties around his waistband.

He lifted himself from the seat and moved to shimmy his pants down to his knees before sitting back down on the chair. His length released and flopped against her stomach as she began to readjust the skirt of her dress, lifting it up so her core could make contact with him. They both moaned once that contact was made.

She leaned down to kiss him, sucking his bottom lip into her mouth as she moved her hips, pushing him though her folds, slicking him with her arousal. She reached down and grabbed his girth, aligning herself to him, and then lowering herself fully onto him until she was seated, blissfullyimpaledon his length.

Their mouths broke away for a moment, and they gazed into each others eyes. He could feel that she was purposefully squeezing her walls on to him, clamping down and releasing. A unique ability of muscle control. He dropped his hands from her and nodded to her, a silent message that she was in control. A devilish smile crossed her face.

The low height and position of the chair aided in her ability to ride him. She rode him as fast and as hard as her legs would allow. He kept his hands on her hips, his fingertips gripped deep into her soft flesh. He couldn't help but to toss his head back and squeeze his eyes closed as he fought to stifle the guttural moans that wanted to escape from his mouth.

Her legs were getting tired, it wasn't often that he granted her the pleasure of riding him. She managed to find her own sweet spot, tilting her pelvis just right.

"That... That's it... don't... don't stop." He breathlessly said. She wanted to continue, she really did, she wanted to see him come undone under her, but her legs were already starting to give out. The exhaustion in her legs was now detracting from her own pleasure.

"OW... my legs." She whimpered. Needing to say nothing more, Ben bucked up, kicking the chair out from under them, and brought them both to the floor. He took over, railing in to her, both of them crying out in ecstasy.

"I've got you now. I'm going to make you cum so hard on my dick. You're so good, you spoil me." He said low into her ear.

Anya couldn't help it, she felt a wave of euphoria wash over her, causing her muscles to clench and spasm. Her mouth hung open wide and all she saw was white, her walls pulsing and clamping down on him, urging on his own release.

He moaned low and loud, spewing her name through ragged breaths as he came. She could literally feel him shooting against her cervix as he twitched and rolled his eyes with bliss. He fell forward and laid on top her her, gently kissing at the crook of her neck. She wrapped her legs around him and squeezed him tightly to her with both her arms and legs.

"You... feel... so good." He said as he tried to catch his breath.

"Only the best." She laughed.They detangled from each other as the clock in the main hallway chimed, indicating that Nora would be home within the half hour.

***

The Solos dressed up in the best clothes they had to watch the holo-transmission of Rey and Finn's wedding. It was a simple affair with Rey in a very simple dress and Finn dressed in his finest. They had no formal bridal party or anything, just the officiant from the courthouse and a few familiar faces in the courtroom.

It was after the ceremony that Rey and Finn were proud to announce to everyone that they were expecting, not only that they were expecting, but in fact they were expecting a baby boy! They were absolutely thrilled.

Ben, Anya, and Nora partied along with the rest of their friends despite being parsecs away. They were abundantly grateful for technology to bring them together for such a special occasion.

After the wedding, Ben, Anya, and Nora lounged around in the living room with the holoprojector on. Nora had dozed off and there was the sound of a thunderstorm off in the distance. As he had many times over the course of recent weeks, he felt an overwhelming sense of calmness and peace.

He had gotten better when it came to dwelling on his past mistakes and errors. Instead of looking back and falling down a hole of depression and regret, he had started to look back on his old self with clarity and acceptance. Sure, he regretted the things he had done, but he now accepted and understood that he had been manipulated to do those things. He also accepted the fact that there was no shame in feeling the dark side of The Force, that it was ok that The Force chose to flow through him that way.

He had Nora asleep next to him on his right, and Anya cuddled up next to him on his left. He pulled them both close to him and gave them a tight squeeze. Looking between the two he sighed and chuckled to himself.

"What?" Anya asked.

"Just thinking." He responded.

"What about?"He shifted his weight a bit and pulled both girls closer to him with a comforting and secure squeeze.

"Ruling the galaxy and having raw unlimited power was fun and all.... but this.... this is better. Who needs the galaxy when you have this?" He said before kissing the top of Anya's head. He was referring to the life that he had at that very moment. How complete and full it now felt.

For so long he had had a complicated and warped view of his own identity. He won't deny the fact that at one time he felt that he had some big legacy to live up to, which in turn caused him to see his past through an obscure lens. In the past he had a lot of insecurities that revolved around family and identity, these insecurities were what Snoke played on, further warping his perception of himself and his surroundings. Now that he was free from all of that, he could see clearly.

Sure his parents and grandparents had done great and so called great things for the galaxy, but that didn't mean he had to too. Everyone has their own definition of happiness and success. If only he could have figured out his own definition of that sooner. Sometimes the simple life really is the best life.

"I'm going to go meditate tomorrow. I think I'm going to try and reach out to my mom." Ben said.

"I think that would be good. Tell her I said hello." Anya said, curling up tighter next to him.

***

Ben woke up early the next morning, well before the sun rose. He kissed both Anya and Nora goodbye and made his way to find a good spot to meditate. Anya had told him he could take the ship and go to the temple ruins, but he didn't really want to be gone all day. With a sack on his back and a light hooded cloak, he started a hike towards wherever he felt would be best.

He walked though the village and well past it. He walked a good two hours before finding a gently stream with little ponds all around it, surrounded by lush green trees and wildflowers. This felt like a good spot.

He found a smooth boulder that jutted out of the ground and had the stream carved all around it. He felt called to this one spot, so he sat down and began to meditate. All around him The Force buzzed with evenness and balance. It welcomed him, both the light and the dark. He suddenly felt a shift and opened his eyes. There sitting right beside him was his mother.

"Mom..." He began.

"Ben." She said softly and lovingly.

The two talked for quite some time. Before, on Exegol, Ben didn't have much time to speak to his mother. Now he had all the time in the world. He profusely apologized for his past mistakes, and spilled out his deepest feelings that he had come to recognize and come to terms with. Apology after apology fell from his lips, and she listened intently.

When he was finished pouring out his deepest feelings and regrets to her, she started herself. She had much to say, apologies of her own, regrets that she had, misunderstandings she regretted. There had been things that she long felt that she couldn't forgive her son for, but with time she gained understanding, and although it pained her, she learned forgiveness.

She expressed how proud she was of him, of the man he had become now. She told him how she was able to watch over Nora through the Force. She told him how proud he should be of his little family, and she gave him advice. That advice was to love them unconditionally, fiercely, and without fear. She expressed that she might have failed in that regard, that although she loved him fiercely, she struggled with the unconditionally and fearlessly part.

He told her that he understood more now than he ever did before. He learned to forgive both her and his father. He recognized that sometimes people are plagued and haunted by their own pasts and that he should have looked passed his parent's flaws to see just how great they truly were. He also expressed that he regretted not telling them about Snoke when Snoke appeared to him in his head.

The time they spent together was therapeutic and healing. He felt in his heart that he had been forgiven by both of his parents and that now he could continue moving forward and making positive progress on himself. The sun began to get low and Leia encouraged him to head home to his family. They said goodbye and Ben began to make his trek back home.

Ben walked like he had just cast aside a massive weight that he had been carrying. When he entered the village, instead of having his resting scowl on his face, he smiled at anyone that passed him, he even said hello to a few villagers, taking them much by surprise. As he walked through the village, he passed an older woman selling bouquets of flowers. For a moment, he stopped to look at them. He thought to buy them, but thought: "Why? We have tons of flowers in the garden at home."

"A lady always appreciates flowers, it lets them know you're thinking of them when you're apart." The older woman said as if she could read his mind. Ben smiled and took out a few coins and placed them in her hand before selecting a bouquet to bring back to Anya.

He knew he was getting back late, the sun had already disappeared behind the trees and the sky was a bright mixture of oranges, pinks, and yellows; the sunset's magnificence reflected off the lake. He stood on top of the hill that led down to the villa and gazed up at the sky. Seeing the colors reminded him of that Solar storm on The Oasis, that one storm that ultimately urged him on and led him to this very moment.

He looked down at the bouquet of flowers in his hand. It then dawned on him... this was the first time he was bringing Anya flowers. He smiled to himself at the corny thought and then made his trek down the hill to the villa.

The villa was quiet when he pushed open the front door. He could smell the faint aromas of a dinner that had been cooked, he could hear the sound of music coming faintly from the kitchen. He began to take off his shoes and light cloak.

He peeked into various rooms and determined that Nora was most likely already in bed. He didn't like that one bit, and he most certainly wasn't going to make a habit of it. He remembered how he would wake up with his own father gone and then go to bed with his father still gone, only to be awoken late in the night to him coming home from wherever he had gone. He was determined to not be like that. Not to Nora.

Ben stood in the doorway of the kitchen to see Anya cleaning up from dinner. Her back was to him and she worked at the sink washing various plates and other items.

"Hey." He softly said, although it still caused her to jump.

"Oh! You're back!" She said with a wide smile on her face.

"I got you something." He said, revealing the flowers to her which he had hidden behind his back. Her eyes lit up and her smile spread across her face. She looked like a little kid. She dried her hands on a towel and then rushed across the kitchen to hug him and plant a myriad of kisses all over his face.

"I love them!" She said.

"You haven't even looked at them yet." Ben chuckled, she just rolled her eyes and took the bouquet from him and gazed down on the delicate flowers.

"I don't need to. They're from you, so I'll love them either way." She said, taking the flowers to arrange them in a vase.

"I'm starving, is there any dinner left for me?" He asked, as he sat down at the table in the kitchen.

"Oh, yes, I made you a plate, its warm in the oven." She said, he swiveled around to the oven that was right behind him and pulled out a warm plate of dinner. As he ate he watched her lovingly as she arranged the flowers just right. She was wearing a dainty lace dress that had little thin straps holding up up at her shoulders and her hair was up in a messy bun with little wisps of blond strands framing her face.

"Did you have any success meditating?" She asked, eventually sitting across from him at the table.

"Yeah. I got to talk with my mom for a good while."

"Good! How do you feel?"

"Good... really good." He said, reaching out and taking her hand.

"How was Nora today, what did you get up to?" He asked.

"I took her to school, and then I started on going though her old clothes, nothing exciting really." Anya laughed. It was so interesting now, to see them living such ordinary mundane lives. At one time they were up before dawn, stuck to rigorous militant schedules, ordering others around. Now they spent their days gardening and chasing a toddler around, and neither of them would have it any other way.

After chatting a bit more about each other's days, Anya got up to keep on cleaning up the kitchen. He watched her tentatively, his eyes following the curves of her body. The dress she wore was backless and her shoulders were just there... teasing him... begging to be nibbled on.

He got up and brought his plate to the sink. Standing behind her, he snaked one arm around her waist, and with his pelvis, he pressed himself to her ass, pushing her into the edge of the counter. She could feel his hardening length against her ass. He slowly placed his plate in the sink and then reached up and turned the faucet off before bringing his other hand to her waist. He brought his mouth down on her shoulder and began to leave ticklish kisses across the exposed skin.

Anya tossed her head to the side, granting him access to her neck. He gripped one hand tightly against the fabric of her dress and with the other he moved his hand up and down the curves of her body. He began to kiss her down her shoulder, down her arm, and to her hand. He beckoned her to turn around to face him as he planted little kisses on each of her still wet fingers. He then pulled at her hand, leading her out of the kitchen and up to their bedroom.

Once in their room, Anya turned to face him, her back to the bed. Ben lifted her up, and tossed her on to the bed like it was nothing; her head landing softly in the pillows at the head of their bed. He pulled his shirt off over his head and then crawled up the bed, hovering over her, holding himself up with one arm and his knees while he snaked his free hand up her dress, squeezing and fondling her soft flesh.

"Take all this shit off." he said, tugging at the fabric of her dress. He allowed her to sit up and watched her with laser focused eyes as she untied the straps that held the dress up and lifted it up over her head and then removed her panties. Now that the weather was much warmer, Anya had taken to no longer wearing a bra around the house, something that Ben didn't complain about one bit.

He brought his mouth to her chest and suckled one nipple into his mouth while he massaged and fondled the other. With both hands, he squeezed her two tits together, squishing his face between the two, and then moved his mouth to the other.

"My favorite dessert." He growled into her chest. As always, Anya was at a loss for words. He always managed to make her mind go blank. She always became overwhelmed by the sensations he inflicted upon her, the ecstasy, bliss, and pleasure. Her nerves rang out in jubilation, and her skin buzzed with warmth and delight.

He began to lay a trail of kisses down her chest and across her belly. His tongue lingered at her navel and his teeth grazed at her hip bones. He pushed her legs up until her knees were bent and he pushed them open, exposing her core to the air and his intoxicating gaze. She already knew she was dripping wet for him, she could feel how the air cooled her.

"I misspoke...." he began as he laid a trail of kisses down from her knee, down the inside of her thigh, "This is my favorite dessert." He said before stroking his tongue through her folds, lapping up her arousal. She tossed her head back and a low, deep moan escaped her mouth. Anya quickly had both her hands in his hair and her hips bucked up into his face, desperate for more sensation, more pressure.

"Hmmmm so needy... you'd think I deprive you." He said, his mouth close enough for the vibrations to send a shudder though her body. He brought his mouth back down, twirling, caressing, and lapping at her bundle. She was an outright mess, tossing her head back and forth, moans and breathless squeaks escaping her lips.

He was taking his time, he wanted this to take a while. He loved to watch her come undone. To him she was gorgeous with her cheeks flushed, her irises dilated, and her hair fanned out on the pillows. Her pink lips were slightly parted as she fought for breath, and her delicate fingers both pulled and massaged at his scalp.

He slipped two fingers inside of her pumping in and out, noting the squelching that came from her due to just how wet he had made her. Feeling how slick her walls were with his fingers, he couldn't help but moan and his dick twitch in his pants. He could feel her walls start to get tight and he could hear her breath become uneven, she was going to cum.

She made a sound of protest as he pulled his face and hand away from her. He sat up on his knees and held his hands above his head.

"Undress the rest of me." He said, he was so much taller than her that his groin was at eye level with her even when she sat up on her bum. She brought her hands up and pulled at the strings that held his pants up and worked the garment down, releasing his cock, it almost slapping her in the face as she did.

He brought his hand down to pet the side of her head. She looked up at him with her wide green eyes, her eyelashes long enough to almost touch her eyebrows. Parting her lips, her tongue darted out and she licked the underside of his shaft, bringing her lips up to the head and sucking it into her mouth. He could have creamed right then and there, the act alone caught him off guard, knocking him off balance and off to the side on to the bed.

He rolled back over on top of her, bringing his mouth to hers to kiss her long and slow. His tongue danced with hers as he rocked his hips between hers, his length parting her and rubbing over her bundle of nerves. She wrapped her legs tightly around him, desperate to become one with him.

With one slip, he sheathed himself inside of her, both of them moaning, their foreheads pressed together. He began a slow, fluid, and rhythmic stroke of his hips. He could feel her walls tighten, desperate and needy for release.

She had been deprived once and because of it there was an immense amount of tension in her gut and core, screaming and crying for release. He rocked into her, squeezing his eyes shut, absorbing the sensations of just how tight she was.

"Please... please make me cum." She breathlessly found the words.

"We're going to cum together." He said, snapping his hips and squeezing a hand at her thigh. He knew he was close, and utilizing The Force, he swirled at her clit. She felt the invisible third hand of his work it's sorcery on her.

"I'm gonna... no.. I am." She cried out, tossing her head back as her senses were flooded with euphoria. Her nerves sang, buzzed, radiated, and her muscles convulsed. Ben too came, the constrictions and clamping of her walls milking him dry of every last drop that he had. His spent body flopped down on top of her, their chests heaved for air. He had been so deep in her, that when he pulled himself out, nothing spilled out of her.

Sweat caused his hair to stick to his forehead, she reached up and smoothed the hairs back into place, all the while gazing into his eyes. They brought their mouths together for a passionate kiss. They both felt light and bubbly, content and happy in their own little blissful world. They took turns kissing each others faces, both feeling eternally spoiled in each others presence.


	37. Little

Ben thought for sure that he had fixed the roof over the kitchen correctly, but somewhere along the way, something went wrong. Strategically, Ben used just about every pot, pan, bowl, and bucket he could find to capture all the water that dripped though the ceiling as a thunderstorm raged outside.

"Fuck!!! Dammit!!! What the..." Ben muttered under his breath as he scurried around the kitchen trying to keep things clean and dry. Anya had Nora on her hip and she peered through the kitchen door and couldn't help but laugh at the sight she saw. It was a mess to be sure, and it was going to cause them many headaches, but all she could do was laugh.

"I just don't understand, I was up there for three days, I got all the damn tiles back in place. What the fuck!?" He groaned in annoyance and slight anger.

"No bad words!!!" Nora shouted.

"When the storm passes, we'll figure it out. It's not the end of the world, it can be fixed." Anya chuckled. He sighed and ran his hands through his hair before putting his hands on his hips. He thought for sure she would be angry, or at least annoyed, but she wasn't. Instead she just stood there with a smile on her face and a "oh well" attitude. In turn, her calmness calmed him. She was right. It wasn't the end of the world, it could be fixed.

"Finn, Rey, and Chewie are coming, and the kitchen is a mess." Ben sighed.

"I'll use the kitchen in the guest house, it's no big deal." Anya said, holding out her hand, urging him to leave the project for later. He tossed his head back and groaned in frustration, but eventually relented and followed Anya out of the kitchen.

They watched the storm together though the windows in the parlor that looked out over the lake. Thunderstorms on Sorgan were always a breathtaking sight. As quickly an furiously as storms came, they also passed, leaving the sky clear, blue, and sunny.

Anya and Nora watched from the kitchen garden as Ben climbed up on to the roof over the kitchen to assess what went wrong. He sighed when he saw that the old clay tiles has all cracked from being shifted around when he repaired a certain section. He ran his fingers through his hair and growled in anger at himself.

"They're all shot! The whole thing needs to be replaced." He said, holding up two cracked and broken tiles.

"Ok. That's fine! We can put in an order at the village mercantile." Anya shouted up to him. Once again, Ben was up on the roof when he saw The Falcon make it's approach and land nearby the villa.

"Great, they're here." Ben sighed.

"Well come on down Mr. TheSkyIsFalling, it's going to be fine!" Anya jested.

"Well the damn sky is falling when it rains and floods our kitchen!" Ben muttered as he climbed down, but there was no one to hear him. Any and Nora had already disappeared out of the kitchen garden to go greet their guests.

Rey was a little more than halfway along in her pregnancy and she had the roundest bump under the jedi robes she wore. Anya declared it to be the cutest thing she had ever seen.

"It's like you're hiding a little melon under there!" Anya said.

"I can assure you, there is a child in there, and he wont stop kicking me in the ribs." Rey laughed.

"Oh those are the worst." Anya laughed. Nora was already climbing all over Chewie, and Ben was making his way over to greet them all.

"He looks pissed, and I say that fully knowing that on a normal day he always looks pissed." Finn said, noting Ben's expression as he made his way over.

"Oh the roof is leaking in the kitchen. Nothing too horrible." Anya laughed.

The evening wasn't too terrible despite the state that the kitchen was in. Finn and Chewie even offered to help Ben the following day to lay some metal over the spots where the water was coming in until the repairs could be made. While the guys looked over the roof, Anya and Rey spent some time in the nursery. Anya had a few things to give Rey and Rey asked her how to do a few things.

Rey had never held a human baby before, besides Nora. So, using Nora's baby dolls, Anya showed Rey how to change a diaper and swaddle a baby. Rey felt clumsy and got frustrated after awhile. She worried that she wouldn't be good at any of it.

"Most of it is instinct. Just keep them warm and fed, and you're half way there! They're tougher than you think." Anya laughed.

"I've started to have dreams, like you said you did." Rey confessed.

"Really!?"

"Yeah, just like you said, it's like he's talking to me." Rey said, rubbing her hand over her belly.

"So we already know this little one will be a little jedi." Anya said, reaching out and putting her hand on Rey's belly.

"We'll see what they want to be when they grow up. Finn said it would be a good idea to let him decide for himself." Rey said, taking Anya's hand and moving it to where the little one was kicking.

"Have you thought of names?" Anya asked.

"We like the name Bodie... It means messenger in some translations in the Galaxy." Rey said proudly.

"I like it, it's a good solid name." Anya replied.

"Do you think Bodie and Nora will grow up to be best friends?"

"I think they will. They really don't have any other say in the matter." Anya surely said.

The next morning, after breakfast, the guys got to work on making a temporary fix to the roof over the kitchen. They used old metal sheets they found in storage elsewhere on the property and secured them to the roof. It was quite funny watching the three of them work, really they should have let Chewie call all the shots, he was the oldest and wisest. Yet they all bickered back and forth as to which way was the best way. The project should have only taken an hour or two, but it took up half the day. All Rey and Anya could do was laugh as they watched them from the kitchen garden.

As with most of Finn, Rey, and Chewie's visits, it did not last long. The trio visited frequently for short spurts before leaving to head back to their own homes. Anya, Ben, and Nora waved them goodbye as they flew off in the Falcon.

It was nearing summer, and summer meant there would be more frequent afternoon thunderstorms, so it was urgent that the get the roof fixed. So the day after the visit with their friends, Ben decided to walk Nora to school and take advantage of his time in the village to order the new roofing tiles and get a few other things that he needed for around the villa.

"The Village merchant said the tiles will be in next week! So we just need to hope that metal sheeting holds until then." Ben called out as soon as he entered the villa from his trip into the village.

"Oh! Sounds great!!" Anya called out. Her voice traveling down the stairs, coming from their bedroom. Ben kicked off his boots and climbed the stairs. As he came up to the second floor landing, he saw that the door to the attic was open and there were a bunch of boxes strewn though out the hallway.

He had to step over boxes and crates as he made his way to their bedroom where Anya was. When he walked into the bedroom he saw that the trail of boxes continued. He saw Anya kneeling on the ground, putting together some sort of piece of furniture that was small and made of wood. He couldn't quite make out what exactly the piece of furniture was, although there was some sort of familiarity to it.

"What... whatcha doing there?" He asked.

"Oh... just putting Nora's old bassinet together." So that's what it was.

"Oh... for Rey and Finn?" He said walking closer to her.

"Nope."

"Oh..." She could hear the confusion on his voice.

"We're going to be needing it again." Giving him a hint.

"What for?" Ben asked. Anya's just started laughing as she stood up to face him and patted her own stomach. All at once a light went off in his head and he came to a realization.

"No...." He said in disbelief.

"Yes."

"No... really!?" He said now with excitement, pure joy and excitement all over his face.

"Really." Anya said with a smile on her face. He grabbed her face and kissed her all over, he hugged her, and then fell to his knees and pushed his face into her stomach. He then pressed his ear to her stomach thinking he could hear something.

"What are you doing!?" She said through laughter.

"Checking for life!"

"I can assure you there's a little bean in there." She laughed again.

"How long have you known!?"

"I had some suspicions last week, so when I took Nora to school the other day, I popped in to see the midwife in the village. We can expect this one in the middle of the rainy season." She said. He was absolutely elated with joy. He picked her up around her legs and carried her around the room in some sort of victory march before putting her down on their bed and kissing her all over, a new favorite habit of his.

***

After two visits with the village midwives to ensure that everything was sound and healthy; they told everyone. Rey screamed so loud over the communicator that surely the whole galaxy heard her, Lando showed up with gifts the same day he was told, and Chewie showed up with his son Waroo to personally help Ben fix the roof over the kitchen.

Ben made a special trip with Nora and Anya to the temple ruins to "see" his mother. Although he probably knew that she already knew, he at least needed to tell her. Leia was ecstatic to hear the news.

"Oh how I wish I could kiss you for putting up with my idiot son!" Leia said to Anya with happiness and excitement.

"No... she needs a Royal Award for putting up with me." He said putting his arm around Anya and squeezing her tightly.

As the weeks went on, the changes started to take place. Anya was nauseous in the mornings, but she rarely threw up. Ben suddenly became an "expert" in all things pregnancy, he read just about every book he could find. He wasn't able to be there for her the first time, so he was trying to make up for it all now; much to Anya's annoyance at times.

The man was always protective, but that became even more so now. He wouldn't let Anya do anything. If he had it his way, he would have Anya lounging on the lounge in the parlor with an endless supple of fruits, vegetables, and snacks at her disposal. He didn't want her to lift a finger.

"Seriously! I'm pregnant, not dying! I have done this before Ben Solo!" Anya snapped at him one afternoon when he got upset that she was collecting laundry and carrying around a basket.

"But that book I read said..."

"FUCK THE BOOK! I can do our damn laundry!" She said, stomping her feet.

"Alright!" He said, putting his hands up in surrender. He just wanted things to be perfect, even if he was being a bit overbearing. When he wasn't worrying, he was extremely attentive. In the evenings, after putting Nora to bed, they would lay in their bed and Ben would put his face down by Anya's stomach and talk to the baby down there, telling it stories, or just talking nonsense.

Anya's stomach started to grow, her skin glowed, her hair was full, and she just had this overall radiance about her that he adored. He couldn't keep his hands off her or her belly, and was just overall captivated by her. To him, she somehow got even more beautiful. She was like this goddess in his eyes that walked around the villa, and he just wanted to worship the ground she walked on.

One evening while the family was sitting around watching the holo, Anya got up to fluff the pillows and just straighten up the space. She stopped and gasped and brought her hands to her stomach. Ben jumped up, at first he thought something was wrong, but Anya had a little smile on her face.

"What? What's wrong? What's happening?" He said, all nervous, getting up and rushing to her side.

"It's... it's another girl." Anya said with a smile on her face. Anya brought Ben's hands to her stomach, and he could sense it. He could sense a little force signature in there, it radiated and felt similar to his own. There were no words, no ways to communicate with the little one, but it was as if he could just feel her. He could sense that she knew that it was his hands on Anya's stomach. It was surreal, he didn't know how to explain it.

"Nora... come here." Anya said, Nora hopped off the couch and ran over and lifted her hand up to touch Anya's belly. They had already started talking to Nora, telling her that she was going to be a big sister and that there was a baby in Anya's belly. Nora could feel it too. Her little eyes grew wide and she gasped.

"Baby! Baby sissy!" Nora said.

"Yes! That's right!" Anya said with a laugh.

***

After little Bodie was born, Anya offered to visit Rey and Finn to help out as they adjusted as new parents. Ben didn't want Anya to leave, but he wasn't allowed to leave the planet. Reluctantly, he let her go and stayed behind with Nora. Ultimately, he was grateful to have a few days of solid one on one time with Nora.

He kept Nora home from school while Anya was gone. He knew Anya wouldn't like that Nora was missing out on school, but he figured it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission. He and Nora spent a lot of quality time together.

Since she started school, Nora had started to talk a lot more. Her speech improved and she had learned to enunciate her words better. It was fun having full little conversations with her and teaching her little things about The Force that she could understand.

There was one day that Ben caught himself feeling a little sad. He thought about how much he missed Anya while she was gone, and he worried for the briefest moment about the new baby coming. What if he didn't love the new baby as much as he loved Nora? Or worse... what if he loved the new baby more than Nora since he's been with Anya the entire time now?

He put Nora to bed early one night and called Lando to ask for advice. Lando listened tentatively and assured him that love has no limits, it just continues to grow. Ben just had to trust the process of being human.

When Anya returned from her four day visit with Rey and Finn, all she could talk about was how cute little Bodie was. According to Anya, Bodie had tight little auburn colored curls, caramel colored skin, hazel eyes.

"Oh my goodness, he was such a chunky baby too! He had all these little rolls everywhere!" Anya said, taking out her datapad to show Ben pictures of the newborn as they laid in bed the night after her return.

"He has Rey's nose." Ben noted.

"He does!"

"Is he Force sensitive?" Ben asked.

"Rey thinks so! She said she had dreams like I do." Anya said.

"How did they come up with the name Bodie?" Ben asked.

"I didn't ask, she said it means messenger. I think they wanted it to mean something." Anya said.

"We need to think of a name." Ben said, clicking Anya's datapad off.

"We do. I named Nora after my mother." Anya said.

"I was thinking.... how do you like the name Hanna... it would be for my dad." Ben said.

"Hanna... Hanna Solo... I like it!" Anya said after repeating the name a few times to herself.

"Well... how do you like the name?" Ben said, lifting up Anya's night gown and speaking directly to Anya's stomach. Ben rubbed Anya's belly and felt a little kick back.

"I think she likes it." Ben said, making Anya laugh.

***

The light from the fresher attached to their bedroom woke Ben from his deep sleep. He turned over to see that Anya was out of bed. Rain pitter pattered at the windows to the villa as Ben got up to check on Anya. She often got up in the middle of the night to pee, she had to pee a lot these days. The count down to Hanna's arrival had been on for several days, and for the past two days, Anya had been feeling very uncomfortable, feeling occasional waves of pain on and off, so he got up to check on her to be sure.

When he peered through the fresher doorway he saw Anya gripping at the sink counter, focused, and audibly deep breathing. He immediately rushed in and went to reach out to her, but she swatted him away. In that moment she just didn't want to be touched. Her breathing slowed and she looked up at him, sweat already beading on her brow.

"We're having a baby." She said with a relieved smile on her face.

"This... this is it? What do I need to do?" Ben said, a bit panicked.

"Nothing yet. I'll let you know when to call the midwives." She said, reaching out for him, wanting him to now hold her. For the next hour or so, it was just them in the fresher. For some reason that was where Anya felt safe and wanted to be. It was a slow process, but it was happening steadily. Eventually things increased, and Anya reached out and gripped hard at Ben's biceps, so hard that he flinched in pain. It was after that that she told him to call the midwives.

It was still dark out, the dead of night when the midwives arrived. The two women buzzed about their room setting various things up. Ben was totally lost and confused. He felt completely helpless and useless.

"Is this normal?" He kept asking the midwives every time a pain took hold of Anya.

"Yes... yes... very normal, and very beautiful. You'll have a little one before the sun rises I am sure!" One midwife said.

"What can I do? How can I help?" He asked.

"Here... do this." The midwife said, showing Ben how to massage Anya's back. Ben massaged Anya's back and she held on to him, at times they swayed back and forth. Anya was lost in her own little world, taken over by her body doing hard work for her. Eventually the Midwives filled up the bathtub in the fresher and got Anya to get in. Ben lingered on the outside, continuing to hold Anya's hands. He was nervous, and dare he admit, scared.

When it came to it, it happened rather quickly. It was all a blur, he could hear the Midwives give instructions. One physically put her hands on him and moved him to a different side of the tub, and the other reached down and lifted out a tiny little baby from beneath the water. Ben sat there in shock, tears filling up in his eyes.

The little one was placed on Anya's chest and she looked up at him with a gasp and smiled wide.

"I did it! I did it!" She said.

"Hell yeah you did it." He said, snapping back into himself and leaning over the side of the tub to kiss her. He looked down and saw the littlest little one he ever laid eyes on. Her big eyes were open and she was gazing up at him, like her sister, she had been born with a full head of dark hair, and after a moment she let out a little cry, and the midwives cheered.

"Ohhh... it's ok. You did a lot of work. That was hard!" Anya said, cradling little Hanna and rubbing her back.

"You did amazing." Ben said, still in disbelief at what he had seen. He felt like he had been humbled immensely by what he had just witnessed. He knew things about strength and power, but nothing compared to what he just saw Anya do.

After a few minutes, it was time to cut the cord that still connected Anya and Hanna together. The midwives handed Ben a pair of scissors and instructed him in what to do. With a simple snip, he disconnected them. The midwives wrapped Hanna up in towels and dried her off.

"Master Ben, you're going to have to take off your shirt now." The older midwife said as she held a crying Hanna in her arms.

"Excuse me?" He said, a bit taken back by the question, but then he remembered everything that he had read about babies needing to stay warm after being born. Quickly he tore off his shirt and reached out to the midwife who placed the teeniest little one in his arms. He brought her to his chest and held her securely there. She almost was small enough to fit in his one hand. She was so little he was worried he was going to break her.

Once he got her situated and comfortable against his skin, she quieted down and stopped crying. Carefully, tiptoeing out of the fresher and into their bedroom, he got back into bed and sat there with the fresh new one on his chest.

"Hey kid... I'm your dad. It's nice to finally meet you." He said down to her. Her eyes were wide and looked around the room, eventually intently staring at his face.

After a while, Anya emerged from the fresher. The midwives had helped her with the last bits of labor, and helped her bathe and get dressed in fresh underclothes and a robe. The midwives helped her walk to the bed and helped her get in. Once she was comfortable, propped up on a dozen or so pillows, Ben handed Hanna back over to her.

The sun was just starting to crest over the horizon. The elder midwife was right, they did have a new baby before the sun rose. Anya and Ben didn't have to do anything else, they just sat in bed gazing at their new little one. Hanna took to eating right away and was in perfect health.

"Go get Nora." Anya softly said to Ben. Ben got up and went out of the room and down the hall where he gently woke up a still sleeping Nora.

"Hey... your sister is here!" he whispered to her. Nora immediately shot up.

"Sissy!?" She asked.

"Yes. She's here." He said picking her up and carrying her back to the room. The now family of four sat together in bed cuddling and getting used to their newest member. Despite it being the middle of the Sorgan rainy season, the soft light that the sun brought filled the room.

All was perfect, tranquil, and balanced.

****

**I would like to add some *music* for y'all to help set the mood. For Spoiled I listened to POV by Ariana Grande... and pretty much her whole album....and for this chapter I listened to Sons and Daughters by Allman Brown.**


	38. Epilogue

Twenty Three Years Later

Ben was dreading this day. He had been dreading this day since Bodie and Nora sat both sets of parents down three years ago and informed them all that they were dating. From inside the villa he could hear guests start to slowly arrive and head down to the gardens. He looked himself over in the hallway mirror one more time before he went on his quest to find wherever Hanna ran off to.

Both girls had grown up to be fine young women, young women Ben and Anya were very proud of. It was not, of course, without hiccups along the way. Nora was the strong, focused, calm, poised, and reliable older sister. Nora had taken after Anya in many ways.

Hanna... oh Hannah was for sure Ben's kid. Hanna was the reason Ben drank too much whisky every week and the reason he had grey hair. Hanna was the strong willed, stubborn, quick tempered, impulsive, and rebellious younger sister. Despite that, she was a daddy's girl through and through.

During their teen years, both Nora and Hanna had given Anya and Ben a run for their money. Nora had at times been a competitive drama queen, and Hanna just liked to cause chaos for the fun of it. Looking back, despite the few hiccups along the way, he wouldn't change anything for the world.

Ben walked out of the villa and went to the back garden, Hanna's favorite spot to escape from people. Sure enough, there she was, leaning against the garden wall dressed in her full length, black satin bridesmaids dress. Oh how the girls had fought over that stupid dress.

Nora had wanted Hanna to wear pink, but Hanna hated the color pink. Nora was only going to have one bridesmaid, so it only made sense, for the sake of peace, to just let Hanna pick the color. So Hanna picked black, the color she was always dressed in.

As Ben got closer to where Hanna stood, he noticed that she wasn't alone. Standing across from her was a tall young man with slicked back dark hair, a strong bone structure, and narrow eyes. He could tell just by the way the two were standing, facing each other, and talking, that they were flirting. In fact, the young man was holding Hanna's hand. Ben rolled his eyes in annoyance. As Ben approached, he couldn't help but feel that there was a familiarity to this young man that he couldn't quite place.

"Hey Kid..." Ben said, getting his daughter's attention. Both young adults turned towards him, the mystery young man standing straight to attention and nervously shoving his hands behind his back.

"Oh... what's up?" She asked, hiding the flask she she thought he hadn't noticed. Instead he held his hand out, indicating to her to hand it over. She sighed and handed it to him. Ben popped the top off and took a swig before handing it back to her with a wink.

"It's almost time for family pictures." Ben said to her.

"Oh shoot... That means I have somewhere to be." The mystery young man said.

"I don't think we've met before. You are?" Ben said, extending his hand to the young man.

"Oh... dad... this is Bodie's best man... Armitage." Hanna introduced.

"Armitage?" Ben questioned as he shook the boy's hand.

"Armitage Hux... junior... sir." The boy nervously said.

"Of course...." Ben said, trying not to roll his eyes.

"JR! It's time for pictures, what kind of best man are you... Oh! Hey Ben, hi Hanna, you look stunning!" A familiar voice came from around the corner, it was Rose. Ben then remembered, it was some years ago that they had heard that Hux and Rose ended up together, and he had heard that they had a son shortly after Hanna was born. He knew that Hanna and Nora would occasionally spend time with the younger Hux when they visited Naboo, but he hadn't yet ever met the young man.

"Yeah mom... I'm coming!" Hux Jr said. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Sir. My father has told me a lot about you... good things of course. Ummm... ok.. I'll see you soon Hanna." The kid nervously said before being dragged off by his mother.

"Why do you have to terrify all my friends?" Hanna complained as she and Ben started to walk back into the villa.

"Oh... a friend? Is that all he is?" Ben said, as he escorted his daughter back up to the villa. The two of them walked in comfortable silence with each other. That was their way. Nora was his talkative child, the one who could hold deep, lengthy, and intelligent conversations. Hanna was quieter, more straight to the point, she felt more than she verbally expressed. It was always Ben and Hanna who went out for day long meditation sessions at the temple ruins, she was his meditation buddy. Nora was his sparring buddy, the one who was best with a lightsaber.

Inside the Villa they could hear a small commotion up on the second floor where Nora was getting ready. Ben was not ready to do this. He paced back and forth at the bottom of the stairs while Hanna bounded up them.

"Oooooh! Look at you... looking all bridal and shit." He could hear Hanna say as she went into the bedroom where Anya was fussing with Nora.

"Hanna! Language! Where's your father, we have to do the flowers." he could hear Anya say.

"I'm down here!" Ben called up. He watched as Anya appeared at the top of the staircase, as radiant as ever. She was wearing a sapphire blue gown and her hair had been done up. After all these years, to him she still was the most beautiful woman in the entire galaxy. He stood at the bottom of the staircase, hands in his pockets, and a proud adoring smile on his face.

"Come on... it's time." Anya softly said. Reluctantly, Ben climbed the stairs, passing dozens upon dozens of family photos that hung on the wall. He stood, right outside the door with Anya who busied herself with dusting off his formal robes and tucking a stray piece of hair behind his ear. Her hand stopped and cupped the side of his face, she knew this wasn't an easy day for him.

"Hey." She said.

"Hey."

"I love you." She smiled.

"I love you too." He said, leaning down to kiss her.

"You ready?" She asked.

"No... but let's do it." He said. Anya turned and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" They heard Nora's voice call out. The door opened and inside, with the gleaming sunshine highlighting her, stood Nora. She was a vision all in white, her long hair half pinned up with flowers and half cascading down in curls. The flowing chiffon dress suited her well with the sheer quarter length sleeves and the gem encrusted bodice.

Ben just about choked. He cleared his throat trying to fight away tears.

"Well?" Nora asked him.

"You look beautiful." He said, now looking at the floor, for if he looked at her any longer he was sure to start crying. Nora laughed, and placed her giant arrangement of flowers down before crossing the room. The fabric of her dress flowing behind her. Using the force she brought over a smaller little arrangement of flowers and stepped closer to her father. Her stood there silently as she pinned the flowers to his outer robe and then patted him on the chest.

"There. All done." She said.

"So are we doing these damn pictures or what?" Hanna interrupted. The whole family chuckled, easing the emotional tension in the room.

The family went down to the kitchen gardens for family photos. It was a quick few minutes with the four of them posing with the photographer as well as a reporter from a Galactic news outlet. Interest over the Solo family never really died down, even after all these years. In fact, Nora and Hanna were quite famous little socialites throughout the galaxy.

The two girls quickly learned how to use their "fame" to their advantage. Nora ran a motivational and inspirational lifestyle "blog" off the Galactic Social platform known as GalaxyGram, and Hanna used connections to become a Galactic Trade Accountant. Neither of the girls ever really wanted to pursue a full Jedi path, it had always been an option and they did have some interest, but it wasn't fully for them. Which was totally fine. Both girls had grown up to be skilled Force users, they respected the ways of the force, and would help occasionally with Rey and Finn's little academy they had started.

Finn and Rey opened up a small Force User academy on Naboo where Force users from across the galaxy could come and learn the basics about the force and then choose for themselves if they wanted to pursue a Jedi path or not. It was rather very successful and they had many students over the course of the years. Their son Bodie worked as a full time Master Teacher at the academy, which meant that Nora would be moving to Naboo.

With the family pictures all taken care of, it was time for the actual ceremony. There were under a hundred guests in attendance. Over the years, Anya and Ben had made many friends, not to mention Nora and Hanna were also quite popular. The crowd was filled with many familiar faces, faces from before and faces from after.

At the front of the crowd of people there sat a few empty seats. Seats that were set aside for ones who had gone too soon. A seat each for Leia, Han, and Luke, also a seat for Lando, who had passed ten years prior surrounded by the entire Solo family as well as numerous friends.

Chewie waited at the garden gate, his fur only now starting to slightly grey. He purred in excitement to see Anya, and Hanna. Finn, Rey, Bodie, and Hux jr all waited in line for the procession. Inside the villa, Ben waited with Nora.

"Hey." Nora said.

"Hey." Ben nervously replied.

"You're the best... have I ever told you that?" Nora said. Ben just looked down at his feet and tried not to cry, he was having a difficult day.

"You don't need to tell me." He responded.

"Yes... yes I do... I'm not like Hanna." She chuckled.

"Thank the stars, I don't think I could have survived two of your sister." He chuckled. They both laughed for a moment and watched though the doors they stood behind as first, Bodie and Hux jr walked down the aisle, followed by Rey and Finn, then Anya escorted by Chewie, and finally Hanna.

"Hey." Ben said.

"What?" Nora said, squeezing her bouquet nervously.

"I love you." he said.

"I know."

The End

****

**To my dear readers**

**Thank you so much for coming on their journey with me. I want to thank each and every one of you for your time and consideration of my story!**

**I'm still shocked I wrote all of this!**

**A little about me; as you know I write here on Wattpad under the pen name "Nia". That is not my real name. Not even close.**

**In reality I am already a published author and I have a larger following on social media including IG, TikTok, and YouTube. I write here under a pen name because this isn't what I normally write about!!!! Haha. If my regular audience were to know I wrote some spicy literature, they would be quite angry with me! But hey! We all need a hobby! And sometimes your favorite "wholesome" creator online just might need to have a spicy hobby on the side. Lol.**

**In the coming days I'll be editing this story and making it more "reader friendly".**

**Also be sure to follow me so you know when I post my next new story.**

**Xoxo,**

Nia.


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